If We Forgive
by aCra RoX
Summary: There are a lot of things Hyuuga Hinata didnt know such as her mother, why unrequited love hurts, how far her byakugan can go and... who exactly is Uchiha Sasuke. When the world of the shinobi is recovering from the Fourth Shinobi War, most ninjas have a lot of spare time on their hands. And time is what brings two people together. SasuHina
1. Prologue

If We Forgive

It was so sudden. It felt almost surreal. Hinata watched how the life drained out of her cousin's eyes as Naruto held on to him. Neji-sama. 

Hinata sat up on her bed. The clock on her bedside table told her it was 2.30am. Again.. Waking up from her sleep in the middle of the night. She wiped her sweaty forehead. Ever since the war this has always been her pattern. But she knew.. It wasn't just the war. It was the fact that a part of her was still sad over the death of her cousin.

Hinata lay back down on the bed and looked at the moon through her window. It was a beautiful night. The moon from a billion light years away does look enchanting, but up there it's dusty, quiet and pretty deserted. It was like her eyes. The people of konohagukure have always admired the Hyuuga clan's trademark eyes. Like if Hinata went to the market, she will always hear compliments like "beautiful eyes.. It's like a portal to a good soul.. They remind me of the moon." And exactly like the moon, Hinata felt empty, dusty and pretty deserted.

It's not that she's all alone. Her clan house is filled with people. Those with a constant stern face like her father and also some with a more cheery atmosphere like her helper, Mitsuko. And not to mention her one and only sister, Hanabi. Although things did get a little rough between them when her father decided to give her birth right as the potential clan leader to Hanabi, the two of them have gotten past that. It is all good. Because Hinata knew that things always happen for a reason. Even though it hurt her when it was decided. It made her feel like the biggest failure there ever was. What a disgrace of the main branch.

But over time her heartache lessened and slowly it became thinner. She started seeing a new side of her father. A side that she was never aware of. He became gentler towards her and became less strict. She could also sense that he was pleased with her after she pulled that stunt against Pain. When she-

When she tried to save Naruto. Hinata clenched her bed-sheets. What an embarrassing thing to remember. That awkward not to mention lame confession she did. Like who in their right mind would confess when you're up against one of the Akatsuki! Till this day, that memory haunts her like a looming ghost. She regretted it with every cell of her body. Because up to this day also.. Naruto said nothing about it.

People might praise her for her bravery. But in the end she still failed. Still a weakling struggling to prove herself. How she hated how she is. Too gentle, her elders would say. Like her mother.

"Oh, okasan how I wish you were here to guide me." Hinata said to herself as she clenched and unclenched her blanket.

Hinata opened her eyes alarmed. It was real. She swore she heard it. Just as she was about to go back to sleep, she heard something move in the direction of her dressing table.

She activated her byakugan but saw no sign of life. The war made her take extra precautions even though she's in a secured enough place as the Hyuuga compound. Still curious, she got up and walked over to her dresser. With the help of the moonlight, she can see things almost clearly.

After checking her things, she was about to head back to her bed and dismiss the sound as nothing, but then she noticed something was out of place. Hinata picked up a frame which holds a picture of her mother and her back when she was about four years old. The thing is, the frame was not in the position she left it before she went to bed. It was pulled out against the rest of her small frame collection on the dresser. And even more strange, the clasp at the back of the frame was open. She flipped the frame over to look inside and saw the words, 'It's time' written at the back of the photograph.


	2. Moving

_Hey there, this is my first take on a SasuHina fanfic. Please review, any constructive criticisms are welcomed! Enjoy :)_

 _Naruto and all its characters are not mine, obviously. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

Chapter 1

The rain pitter-patters as it drops on an apartment glass window. Behind it, a boy with blue eyes stared through it as the drops trail down the window.

"Oi. Are you going to help me or not?"

Said an irritated dark hair boy to the blond as he folds his clothes with one arm. One arm because he lost the other. It has been four years since he has been a one-armed ninja. But even though handicapped, Sasuke never falters from his genius title.

"Oh, sorry. I was just staring at the Hokage building. I can't believe they're still renovating it. Granny Tsunade is picky as hell!"

Naruto said as he turns to continue stacking up the sealed boxes into one corner. Sasuke was moving back. The hokage instructed that the Uchiha compound to be rebuilt since it pretty much perished along the rest of Konoha when Pain attacked. And the Hokage did it as a sign of gratitude to Sasuke's efforts during the war. A lot of the Konaha villagers offered to help, but still there were some parties that were still wary of Sasuke's new resolution. But nevertheless, he couldn't care less. He was just happy to be going back and thus the packing.

"Ano, Sasuke. If you're moving back to the Uchiha compound, it means you're gonna be there all by yourself."

"Yeah, so?"

"It's a pretty big place from what I can tell,"

"Yeah, so?"

"Too much space for only one person. Too much! Unless… "

Naruto crossed his arms and look at Sasuke suspiciously.

"You're planning on expanding the Uchiha clan."

An idea suddenly enlighten Naruto and like a light bulb his blue eyes shines bright as he turns to face Sasuke mischievously. Sasuke just turns the other way and continued stuffing his clothes in an open box.

"Now that I'm older I finally understand what all this means. Oh my God, that baachan must've thought of it too! How can I be so dumb?!"

"Shut up, you dobe. First of all, you're always dumb and will forever be. And secondly, that's not what it means."

"Oh come on, teme! This is definitely what it means, and it means that you're gonna need to find a potential…er.. potential.. suitor soon!"

Naruto spreads his arms wide open with a wide grin. Sasuke ignored him.

"Teme! Hey, listen to me. We're practically adults now. We're past legal age here. It's not weird anymore to talk about this."

Sasuke, still ignoring him walked out the room to his bedroom.

"But you better not touch Sakura-chan!"

Naruto continued rambling from the living room. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the statement. Sakura was doing pretty well working at the hospital. She always had to do long hours therefore the three of them rarely meet up. Between him and her, he doesn't think Sakura still has that school girl crush she had for him since they were kids. At least not after all the shit he did to her.

"Life is life," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

*Ding dong*

Someone rang the doorbell. He heard Naruto asked who it was before opening the door.

"Ah, Hinata-chan! Come in,"

"Ano.. Sorry I'm a bit late. But… here's the lunch I promised." Said a small timid female voice.

Curious, Sasuke went out to the living room.

"Nah, don't worry about it. You offering to cook food for us is just plain awesome"

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke upon the sudden change of the girl's face.

"Oi Sasuke, look Hinata-chan made us food. I came across her on the way here and told her I was gonna help you pack your things before you move out."

The girl took a side stepped to show herself to the owner of the apartment.

"Uchiha-san." She greeted him formally.

She had bluish long hair that falls down till her hip. And judging from her eyes, she is a Hyuuga. One of her arms was crossed in front of her and holding the elbow of the other arm. And even though she was facing him, her eyes were aimed lower than his. There was no eye contact.

"Hn." Sasuke finally responded after a long pause.

Naruto was busy opening the large bento box Hinata had packed for them.

"Well I'll be going then." Hinata said after a while.

"Wait! You must eat with us, Hinata!" Naruto said as he blocked the apartment door.

"Ano.. I.. Well I've already eaten," She said as her cheeks started to redden.

Why is she so shy? Sasuke thought to himself.

"Well it's just unfair if you're just here to deliver food. Come, join us!"

Naruto said as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and guided her towards a small table where he had placed the bento box. The girl turned extremely red, but Naruto doesn't seem to notice it. Sasuke watched the scene amusingly.

"Oi, Sasuke. You don't mind if Hinata joins us for a while right?"

"Not at all," This could be entertaining, Sasuke thought.

"A-arigato." She stuttered.

They all sat down at the table. Hinata who seems to be recovering slowly from her red face phenomenon quickly unpacked and served their lunch. She was sitting opposite of Sasuke. Sasuke waited patiently as she served their lunch. Naruto was just drooling over the smell of the food.

"Ne, Hinata. What are you up too these days? I heard from Sakura-chan, you're doing something at the hospital."

"That's true. I'm doing training for some basic medical ninjutsu."

Sasuke listened intently as he ate his food. It tasted delicious.

"Really? So you're gonna be like Sakura-chan?"

"Eh? No! Sakura-chan is different. She's doing extreme training under Tsunade-sama. I'm just doing the basics of medical ninjutsu since I never had the chance to do so."

She said her voice became quieter towards the end of her sentence.

"Oh, silly me. But good for you, Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed as he lightly punched her shoulder. Her face reddened.

Of course it is a crush. It was so obvious. Sasuke sighed, and continued munching his food. It really tasted good. If only Naruto didn't hoard almost all of it onto his plate. The girl definitely has a crush on his dobe friend. She's probably here because Naruto invited her. And she's probably uncomfortable being in his house judging from her defensive posture and lack of eye contact with him. People do look at him, Uchiha Sasuke weirdly. Like he can go crazy anytime. Which he sometimes thought to himself, could he?

"Ano.. Uchiha-san. Would you like me to help you pack? I have some free time today."

Hinata interrupted his thoughts. It was her second interaction with him and she surprised him. Why would someone from a prestige clan like the Hyuuga help an ex-rogue ninja like him?

"Hello… Teme.. Are you there?"

Naruto was waving his hand infront of Sasuke's face.

Slightly embarassed, he grunted and said, "You don't have to. We got it covered."

After Hinata left, Naruto turned to him and said.

"You didn't have to be so harsh on her, you know. She was just trying to help."

"I don't need help. You're here."

"The more the merrier and plus she made us lunch?"

"Hah."

They were finishing stacking the last of the boxes. Well Naruto was, Sasuke was just pushing them with his legs towards him.

"Sakura-chan said that Hinata had it hard after Neji passed away. I totally get it. They were close. But lately she, started opening up again. Slowly, at least."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Sasuke asked as he kicked another box towards him.

"Well she was in our class, man. If you remember. I thought you'd ought to know a little bit about her."

"Yeah, because I care about other people,"

"Yes, and you should be! You don't have to hide in the dark anymore, man."

"I made one resolution which is to not destroy Konoha. Not a personality make over."

"I'm not saying you need to. But, you should go out more. Meet people and stuff."

"Right. And they'll just be looking at me and think of either two things. What if I turn bad again or stare at my stump."

Naruto sigh, "You're impossible."

He stacked up the final box and said, "Well that's the last of it. I better get going. Got some Hokage training to do. See ya!"

As Naruto walked to the door, Sasuke said, "She's the first child of the main branch. She's going to be clan leader soon. She has it all, I don't understand why she's still upset over one death."

Naruto turned around grimly and faced him.

"Oi, teme! If you cared enough about your friends, you would know that her birth right was given to her younger sister. And it's not just any death. It was Neji's. He was like a brother to her."

"What? Why?"

Two things confused Sasuke. Birth right handed over to another sibling and Hyuuga Neji who almost killed her during the chuunin exam be like a brother?

Naruto grinned.

"Why not ask her yourself?"

Naruto turned back towards the door and grabbed the door knob.

"And by the way, you weren't bad teme. You were just misguided."

And with that, he turned the door knob open and left.


	3. Whisper

Hinata picked up her pillow and fluffed it before setting it on her bed. The moon was still full. Hinata remembered reading a book about werewolves. How humans can transformed into wolves. It seemed ridiculous. Because in reality it does happen. Take Naruto for example. Ugh, Naruto. Her desire. Her awkward and embarrassing desire. Hinata fell face down on her bed.

Ever since the war, she made reading a new hobby. It all started when she came across an old storage room in the newly rebuilt library where Ino asked for her help to organize some new books. The storage was old, because it was underground and was not affected by Pain's destruction. In the storage room were boxes of old books which Ino said was too outdated for the library. So Hinata took them home instead, with permission of course.

So now her room is like the Hyuuga's mini library. Not that they don't already have one. But Hinata felt it comforting. Books are like people telling her about something she has no knowledge about. And now she knew a lot of things especially about outer space. Her favourite Book, 'The Starry Night Sky'.

On that note, she got up and went over to her bookshelf to grab that particular book. She flipped it open and a piece of paper fell out. She bent down and was about to pick it up until the paper moved a few inches away from her.

Hinata held her breath. What just happened? She made another attempt to grab it but again the paper moved out of her reach. It suddenly flew up and out her bedroom window. Even though she was freaked out, Hinata was intrigued. She looked out the window and saw the paper made its way through the trees. Without hesitation, she jumped out her window and went after it.

After miles of chasing, Hinata found herself in a wide open space. The paper landed on a stone. Upon further inspection, it was no stone but a tomb stone. Hinata finally picked up the paper and turned it over. It was actually a library borrowing card. Hinata scanned the list of names of people who've borrowed it before. The last name caught her attention.

 _Uchiha Mikoto_

Instinct told her to bend down and inspect the name on the tomb stone. She swept away the leaves covering it and was shocked to see the same name engraved on it.

Her heart stopped beating. What is the meaning of this? A rustling sound on her right caught her attention. Hinata turned to face it, but a gush of wind swept past her and she heard a voice. A woman's voice.

"Please, help me."

A shiver went down her spine. She can feel the hair at the back of her neck prickling. That was definitely surreal. She was about to activate her byakugan when a voice surprised her from behind.

"What are you doing at my mother's grave?"

Hinata spun around quickly only to find herself just inches away from Sasuke's chest. She took a step back.

"U-uchiha-san!" she exclaimed.

Sasuke took a step towards her closing the gap between them again, his figure looming over her.

"I asked you a question." He said.

"Uchiha-san is someone else with you?" Hinata asked back as her head searched the perimeter. Who said that? It was so close as if someone was whispering in her ear. Was she under some genjutsu? She pinched herself before she activated her byakugan.

No she wasn't under any genjutsu.

"Oi. Why are you pinching yourelf? Oi!" Sasuke was becoming impatient by the second.

Hinata stared up at his black onyx eyes that reflected the moonlight.

"Uchiha-san, someone is here. Well was here. I heard a voice."

Hinata was trembling and she was holding on to Sasuke's arms. Well, more like clutching for dear life.

Sasuke just stared at her with his beady eyes.

"What are you talking about? There's nobody here but you. For your information, this is the Uchiha compound. You're trespassing."

As if finally realising her actions, Hinata quickly let go of him and placed her hands behind her back, embarrassed.

"Gomen,"

"Now for the third time, why are you here?"

Hinata took a deep breath and showed him the paper she was holding.

"This library card fell out a book I was reading and flew out of my window and brought me here. If the name on this grave is as you say, then the last person to have read the book I'm reading was your late mother."

Hinata explained as the wind blew strands of her hair onto her face.

Sasuke was silent for a while before saying, "You want me to believe this paper which happens to have my mother's name flew out your bedroom window, judging by your current attire, to the Uchiha graveyard and coincidentally landed on my mother's grave?"

On that note, Hinata realized that she was only wearing her flimsy night gown and that she was barefooted in front of The Uchiha Sasuke. She quickly wrapped her arms over her body in an attempt to cover herself.

"I know it sounds crazy. But it's the truth!"

"... Right."

"Why else would I be out here like this in the middle of the night."

Sasuke snorted.

"Maybe because you have a thing for me." He simply said.

Hinata looked at him angrily and said, "Excuse me? I know you might have a large fan base, but I'm not part of it."

Sasuke's brooding face suddenly changed. He was amused.

"What?"

"It's nothing, I know that." Sasuke said as he turns around to walk the other way.

"You like that dobe."

Hinata froze. How can he know that? Did news of her confession spread even to an ex-rouge ninja like Sasuke? Flabbergasted, Hinata can feel her face heating up.

"Now then, I think you should go back, Hyuuga. I have a lot of unpacking to do."


	4. Black Eyes

_Just started class.. So I might get busy soon. But fret not! I plan to continue this story no matter what! And thanks for reading this far :)_

Sasuke stored the last of his things in his closet. There, everything was organized. Just how he liked it. Just like... home. Well, almost. It was just the practical things now. No more family pictures on the wall. No more dim sound of the washing machine that used to scare him as a child. His father's katana collection that hung proudly on the wall of his training room. And no more aromatic smell of his mother's cooking.

Sasuke sighed.

He started taking off his jeans into something more comfortable for sleep and something ruffled in the pocket. He took it out and saw that it was the library card with his mother's writing.

That Hyuuga. What exactly was she up to?

He looked at the book title his mother borrowed, 'Starry Night Sky'. And what a coincidence he got this paper under a starry night sky. Coincidence. What a word. That Hyuuga girl was definitely up to something. But what? She was only dressed in her night gown. That night gown that hugged her curves so well and—

Stop it Sasuke! Don't turn into a one-armed pervert. Is this how Kakashi always view women? Sasuke wondered.

She definitely looked like a frighten kitten when he surprised her. Something really was bothering her. But who cares? It's not his problem right?

The next day, Sasuke went to the library. The post-war shinobi world was quite peaceful. He guessed everybody was thankful to be alive after that whole thing. But Sasuke himself was not sure he was happy to still be alive though. Maybe he was better off dead.

Sasuke decided he wants to learn everything about his clan. He studied from some old scrolls he has in his possession. But some information were missing, and where better to look than the Konoha Library.

In the library there were hardly anyone aside from the staffs. And amongst the staff there was Yamanaka Ino. With her long ponytail she seemed to be busy arranging some books on a high shelf. Based on what Naruto said, the Yamanaka was now working under the intel division which is associated to the library. Sasuke approached her.

"Yamanaka," Sasuke greeted.

"My, how the tables have turned. I used to be the one who jump at any chance to approach you but now…" She stopped and jumped down from the ladder she was on.

"What do you want, Uchiha?" Ino replied her voice edged.

Like Sakura, her ambitious crush on Sasuke had also been buried deep and forgotten. She seemed to be more mature these days and hard.

"I'm looking for any scrolls related to the Uchiha clan. Do you know where they are?" Sasuke said ignoring her acid tone.

Ino crinkled her nose.

"Scrolls? We don't do scrolls here anymore. We kept old books and scrolls in the storage room. It's messy down there, but I have someone arranging them right now."

"Down where?"

"Over there," Ino pointed towards a set of staircase leading down.

"Thanks,"

"Go crazy," she replied before continuing arranging more books.

The library basement, Sasuke assumed was so dingy and smelled of rusted metals. He continued walking down the hall way until he reached a door. Somebody was definitely inside. He can sense a chakra.

The door was open so he went in. The room was dim. One of the light bulbs on the cracked walls, flickered. At the far end, someone with long blue hair was sitting on the floor apparently reading something with her back facing him. He instantly, knew who it was.

Coincidence again?

"Oi," Sasuke called out startling the poor girl.

The girl faced him and upon recognition she said somewhat angrily,

"Will you stop scaring me?"

A smile crept up to Sasuke's face but he held it down.

"Why are you here?" he asked instead.

"And stop asking me that." She made a face to him.

His smile crept up again but he made a motion to rub his nose to cover it. This girl is amusing. Where was that innocent, shy girl who easily turns red?

"Fine." Sasuke said and walked towards the scrolls section he just noticed.

"Ano… Uchiha-san," Hinata suddenly piped.

"What."

"What I said yesterday, was the truth."

Sasuke turned to look at her.

"Okay… Well. Today I came here looking for books that your late mother once borrowed. And I found one. Here." She held up a book she was reading.

Sasuke looked at her intently. What is with her and his mother?

"I flipped through the pages and found this written here." She continued explaining.

Curious, Sasuke walked towards her and grabbed the book and read it. In the book, 'Please, help me' was written horribly big across the pages. Suddenly, he wasn't feeling too good. In fact, he felt angry. She has definitely crossed the line this time.

Sasuke instantly grabbed Hinata by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall.

"What are you implying, Hyuuga?! That my mother was suffering back when she was alive? That she's pleading for a way out?!"

Who is she to go through his family business? Sasuke was enraged.

"U-uchiha-san, please you're hurting me," she squealed.

Sasuke just kept her in position.

"What exactly do you want to know?" Sasuke asked, his voice seething.

"Please, hear me out first before you accuse me of anything. I promise this is real,"

Finally, her white orbs were on his black ones. Direct eye contact. She was pleading with her eyes now. Sasuke let go of her and took a step back.

Hinata hugged herself and took a deep breath.

"Last night, when I was at the graveyard I heard someone calling out to me saying the exact same words written in that book. It was a woman's," she pointed to the book Sasuke had tossed aside.

"That was why I asked you if there was anybody else with you."

"You know Hyuuga, I came by a lot of people before. You're probably depressed right now and your mind is not working properly,"

"Are you saying I'm crazy? T-that somehow I am mentally unstable?!" Hinata asked angrily.

"…" there was a long pause.

"Uchiha-san,"

"You lost someone, and your love is not returned." He simply stated.

Not a second after that, Sasuke caught Hinata's hand just inches away from his face. She had tried to slap him. He wanted to give out a snide remark on her little attempt but Hinata's angry white orbs suddenly turned completely black with white ripple pattern around her pupil, exactly like the rinnegan. And then her furious face was replaced by shock and then fear.

"T-there's something behind you!" She exclaimed.

And before Sasuke could turn around, Hinata fainted but he caught her just in time before she could hit the floor.


	5. Believing

_I know my chapters are short. I try to keep them fast paced. Reviews, please! They really keep me motivated. I'm nearing a writer's block. Erk, let's hope not!_

Yamanaka Ino craned her neck. All this work with the library is really taking up her time. She practically spends all day in it. Shikamaru and Chouji kept on joking that if stays like this, she'll end up being like all those cranky old librarians who scares the heck out of little kids. Not to mention the standard fashion of glasses half their noses.

Ino however didn't mind because she for once had a serious goal in life. Unlike the old her, looks wasn't as important. Not that she stayed away too far from it. She just didn't focus on it too much. Ever since her father died, she aspired to be like him. Because he was the closest she had to a role mode. Even though all her life he was the one who spoiled her rotten, he also taught her the most about life. Especially one as a shinobi.

And now, that he's gone she was planning to be exactly like him, the head of the Intel division. But of course it'll take a lot of work to get there. It's no walk in the park. She'd seen her father working late, writing reports right after long missions. Not to mention his avid trainings. Trainings he sometimes share with her.

Ino sighed.

If that forehead girl is working hard for her future as student of a sannin, she too might as well work as hard. Double it. No, scratch that. Triple it. After all, she is a Yamanaka. And a Yamanaka always get what they want.

Yamanaka decided to check on Sasuke just in case he didn't find the scrolls he was looking for. Pushing aside an empty box of books. She headed towards the staircase.

As she walked in the walkway leading to the storage room, she heard a shouting from its direction. Alarmed, Ino hurried towards it.

"Oi, Hyuuga wake up! Wake up!"

Ino stood by the door and saw Sasuke was kneeling over someone who seemed to be unconscious. He was trying to shake the person awake.

"Oi! "

Ino, not knowing what was happening, walked warily towards them. Before she could say anything, Sasuke turned to look at her. And... He seemed freaked out. Uchiha Sasuke, freaked out. Ino spontaneously raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't do this to her." he started.

As Ino came close she finally noticed it was Hinata that was lying on the floor and she was in fact awake, her eyes were wide open only it was fixed looking at the ceiling. It seemed like she was in a state of shock

"Hinata!" She exclaimed.

Her eyes kept on looking at nothing. It was just staring upwards. And her complexion was extremely pale. She was just lying there, not moving a muscle. Like a porcelain doll.

"What happened to her?!"

"I don't know," Sasuke said slowly.

He wanted to tell her about the Hyuuga's eyes turning into a rinnegan look alike just moments ago. But decided not to. Just in case things get more complicated. Sasuke himself was still a bit baffled at the moment. And he rarely felt like this.

"Sasuke, she's burning up. I think she has a very high fever. We must take her to the hospital now. " Ino said cutting his thoughts.

What?!

Sasuke placed his hand on her forehead to check if it's for real. It's not possible for her to burn up that fast. She was fine just minutes ago.

Upon contact, Hinata suddenlt inhaled deeply and blinked her eyes rapidly as if she was just woken up from a trance.

"Sasuke! You put her under a genjutsu all the while?!" Ino said accusingly.

Irritated, Sasuke's brows twitch. The Yamanaka was too loud and not to mention… unwise. Before he can respond, Hinata suddenly spoke,

"No Ino-chan, I just had a really bad headache. Uchiha-san was just helping me out."

"Really? Wow, that's some kind of a headache. You really looked put out for a moment there." Ino asked, surprised of Hinata's explanation.

Sasuke was even more bewildered.

"I had it all morning. Sorry to have worried you like this. If you don't mind, I think I like to go home and rest," Hinata said as she started getting up. Her pale face no more.

"Oh my God, Hinata. Of course you can! You really scared me just now. Go. Go now!"

After Hinata left, Ino turned to face Sasuke.

"Just so you know, I have a pretty imaginative mind. And right now, I have a few theories about what just happened. I'm not convinced." Ino said.

"So, why are you looking at me for?" Sasuke asked as he looked pointedly at her.

They stared down at each other for a moment.

"Right," Sasuke finally said and got up. He'll just look for his clan scrolls another day. For now, there are far more immediate things he wanted to find out.

Hinata spent her whole day sleeping after the whole incident at the library. She didn't know why, but she was really exhausted. And now late at night, she was wide awake. Hinata stared at her reflection as she brushed her hair. She noticed that she grew more and more looking like her mother. At least judging by the one photo she had of her. The one she placed on her dresser. Her father, Hiashi seemed to have taken down other photographs or rather every evidence of her mother's very existence in the Hyuuga compound. And she remembered as a child she always asked her father where her mother went if she's not here with them anymore. He would say, "She'll always be here."

And that was the last time she ever heard her father talk about her mother. Afterwards, he would just dismiss all her questions and remind her instead of her Hyuuga duty. However, Hanabi once told her that she accidentally saw their father mourning over their mother in his study. He seemed to be extremely sad. From that moment onwards, Hinata respected her father enough to not ask him of such delicate matter anymore.

But it pains her. She has no memories of her mother at all. It seemed like her mother was nothing but a phantom. Although she never told this to anyone, Hinata was actually really missing her. To grow up without a shoulder to lean on but be the supporting shoulder for others instead. She had to. At least for her younger sister, Hanabi. But the irony is her sister seemed to have turned out better than her.

Hinata sighed.

"I believe you," came a deep voice from behind her.

Hinata got up and turned around so fast, she knocked off a few things on her dresser. Sasuke was crouched on her window.

"W-what are you doing here?!" Hinata whispered loudly.

Oh God… this is not good. If her father found out there's a boy in her room, not to mention the Uchiha Sasuke. She could not think what would happen to her. How did he even manage to pass the guards unnoticed?

"You see, that's exactly the kind of question you'd ask in situations like this," Sasuke said as he dropped into her room. He was wearing a dark cloak that fell down till just beneath his knees. It reminded her of a certain creature that lives by sucking human blood she once read in one of the old library books.

Hinata quickly grabbed her purple jacket hanging on a rack and wore it over her night gown, remembering her mistake last time. She looked at her bedroom door, wondering if anyone heard this intruder came in. Since it was forbidden to use the byakugan in the Hyuuga compound, she had to use other measures.

"Relax, I sense no nearby chakra." Sasuke simply said.

"I am not crazy," Hinata said braving herself to look him in the eye.

"I know,"

"Then why did you say I was?" Hinata asked, hurt.

"I said you were depressed, but I guess I was wrong," Sasuke said returning his gaze on her after taking a quick look around her clean and much organised room.

"Will you hear me out now?"

"Yes, but definitely not here. Come on, let's go we don't have much time."

"Go where?" Hinata asked, confused.

Without wasting anymore time, Sasuke grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out the window. He sensed there was an opening at that very moment where the Hyuuga guards were supposed to be guarding.

Hinata was caught by surprised. But she just followed the Uchiha out, leaping off from branch to branch away from her home. Little did she knew, somewhere in the Hyuuga compound, her father Hiashi who was taking a late night stroll saw her leaving with a boy in hand.


	6. The Message

_Thanks for the reviews! They really helped me notice on what I was lacking. The story is going to unfold soon, just hang on tight. I put extra effort on this chapter, hope it pays off! Enjoy :)_

Hinata had to push herself harder in order for her to match Sasuke's pace, her bare feet touching the damp tree branches as they leaped from tree to tree. He was going really fast. As they traveled through the small forest that divided the land between the Hyuugas and Uchihas, no sooner than later did they eventually reached a big gated area, the Uchiha compound. A tall brick wall surrounded the area. As Hinata looked up the gate, lightning appeared to colour the sky above them.

"Let's go," Sasuke said and walked in.

*BOOM!*

A thunder was heard. Hinata hurried to catch up to Sasuke. She hates the sound of thunder, but she likes the rain. It's funny how one thing can stimulate two opposite feelings.

"I thought about talking somewhere else, but I don't wanna risk anyone hearing our discussion. At least here, I know it's safe." Sasuke said as he walked down a pathway leading to what seemed like a big old tree.

Inside, it was like a mini Konoha. It began with rows of what looked like small houses and stalls on either side. The path then circles around the big tree which happened to be in the middle of four junctions. It was a round-a-bout. They headed towards the 3 o'clock direction.

"Oh, "Hinata said lamely as she was distracted looking at the rows and rows of empty houses as she walked alongside him. It must be lonely to live here all by himself, Hinata thought as she gave him a side glace. She was trying to read his emotion but half of his face was covered by his bangs that grew till his chin level and all she could see was his dark eye focusing straight ahead before turning to look at her. Hinata looked away, embarrassed. They continued walking in silence.

Eventually, they reached a much grander looking house, which was wider than the small houses they walked by earlier. Inside, Sasuke took off his sandals and headed down the hallway. Hinata wanted to follow him in but hesitated because the soles of her feet were so dirty after all the walking, she sat down and was about to take off her jacket to wipe them clean but Sasuke returned with a pair of slippers.

"You can wash them inside," he said.

After washing her feet in a toilet, Sasuke lead her towards a room with tatami mats. On the way there she looked around the big house. Most of the rooms were either empty or lightly furnished. A mop was leaning against a wall next to a pail. He wasn't done cleaning all the rooms too. As they reached the room, Sasuke began to kneel by one of them and removed it like how one would with a piece of jigsaw puzzle. There was a stairwell leading down. And down they went into a tunnel-like path that eventually branched out to what seemed to be an underground room.

With a simple hand seal, Sasuke lighted the torches on the wall, brightening the room instantly. Down there, the ceiling was low. Against the wall, in the middle of the room, Hinata could see a stone tablet with inscriptions written on it. Sasuke went in front one of them and motioned for Hinata to come close with his hand.

"You know why I believe what you said about what happened in the graveyard?" He turned towards her, the fire from the torches casting a shadow on his face.

"Not really. Why do you believe me?" Hinata replied, feeling intrigued.

"Over here is the stone tablet that Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki created. It has been passed down generations after generations in my clan." Sasuke explained as he pointed to the piece of stone. "But only people having the sharingan or rinnegan can read the real messages on this tablet." Sasuke paused to see whether Hinata was following his explanation or not.

"You mean to say that this stone contains… hidden secrets?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, exactly. However, just recently when I moved the stone tablet here from its original position, I came across another message that I could now read with my rinnegan. But before that, I need to ask if you still remember what you saw back in the storage room."

Hinata was silent. She stared into his eyes. Of course she remembered. No one would forget that kind of event, ever. Even Hinata herself was unsure of what she saw. But she could swear there was someone hovering behind Sasuke at the time.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke said impatiently when Hinata didn't respond.

Feeling suddenly distraught, Hinata rubbed both of her eyes hardly before cupping her face in her hands.

"…There was someone," she mumbled.

"Huh?" Sasuke asked not understanding her muffled voice.

"It was behind you..," again she said behind her hands.

Sasuke, feeling annoyed because he couldn't understand what she was saying grabbed one of her hand and pulled it away from her face, and bent down till his eye was on her eye level. Hinata squeaked at the sudden contact.

"Hyuuga, you got to speak up,"

"I said it was behind you! Or someone. I don't know… it just felt weird. I couldn't move but I was aware of you and Ino-chan. I felt bounded." she finally said aloud, strangely finding it comforting looking into his eye whilst doing so.

Still holding her hand, Sasuke pulled her towards the stone until they were semi-crouching in front of it. He shifted his hold on her hands until he was holding only her fore finger and pointed it to a part of the inscription on the stone.

"There, this is exactly where the message is."

"When the moon embraces the sun?" Hinata read the part of the inscription he was pointing at.

"That's what is appears to say, but with my rinnegan I can see it says _'The black rinnegan is the only sight'_

Dropping Hinata's hand he pushed aside his bangs to show her his other eye, his rinnegan eye.

"—A rinnegan isn't black." Sasuke said matter-of-factly.

"But what's that got to do with me?" Hinata asked, confused by his explanation.

"Before you more or less fainted in the library, your eyes turned exactly like mine only it was in the shade of black. I can take a wild guess here that this is exactly what the stone is talking about." Sasuke continued explaining.

"You mean to say I have something similar to a rinnegan? I don't know Sasuke, this all seems a bit too much. But I can tell you one thing, I don't want to see whatever it was back in the library because—"Hinata looked away and bit a thumb.

"Because what?"

"This may seem crazy… but it felt like I was seeing a ghost- Please don't look at me like that!" Hinata stopped suddenly feeling angry.

"Like what?" Sasuke asked bewildered. "I was just thinking that… this message is unfinished. There should be more to it. Your byakugan means the all-seeing white eyes… right?" Sasuke said trailing off as he went back to the stone to read the inscriptions once again.

"Yes," Hinata said as she too crouched down next to him.

"I want you to read it with your byakugan. And tell me everything that you see." Sasuke ordered her.

Hinata did as she was told.

 _The stars are always covered_

 _Under the painting of the light_

 _When the byakugan is clouded_

 _The black rinnegan is the only sight_

"It doesn't make sense. To decipher this inscriptions can take forever. They're like ancient riddles!" Sasuke said exasperatingly.

Hinata looked surprisingly at him. She never saw this much emotion from Sasuke. He looked exactly like a little boy whose toy has been taken away. So very frustrated… and Hinata. Well Hinata wanted to remove that frustration somehow.

Taking a deep breath she said, "Sasuke-san, what is it do you want to find out?"

Sasuke looked at her, flames dancing in her white orbs, her eyes were focused on him and he suddenly felt calmed.

"What happened to just Sasuke? She said it yourself just now."

"Sasuke-san just answer—"Hinata was cut off with his glare.

"Sasuke… please just answer the question." She finally compromised.

"I don't get it. You were scared to death seeing whatever it was you saw and you're just fine not knowing? Aren't you slightly curious about what happened at all?" Sasuke got up and started to pace around to small area. "And it clearly states that there's something more about the byakugan. Your clan's most precious asset. Don't you want to know?"

"It's not that. It's just…. Well. Why do you care?" Hinata said not meaning to sound harsh. But she just hated it when people mention her needing to care more about the byakugan. But hate is a strong word, Hinata more or else feels frustrated whenever the name is thrown at her. It just reminds her about the irony of her very existence, born with said powerful eyes of a noble clan, and yet she was just failing. Weak, nothing but a hindrance.

"Fine." He said, cutting her from her self-pity before heading back upstairs.

Hinata waited until he was upstairs before bracing herself to apologize to him. She hurried back up the stairs, careful to not trip on any uneven steps. When she reached the tatami mat room, Sasuke has already gone. Slowly retracing their steps earlier she found herself back in the room with the cleaning equipment. Sasuke was vigorously moping the floor on one side. At least as vigorous as a one-armed man can go.

"Gomen Sasuke," Hinata started whilst walking towards him. "I didn't mean to offend you earlier but… I just get a little bit... well..." Hinata paused before continuing saying her next words shakily, "…overwhelmed whenever the byakugan is mention."

Sasuke stopped mopping and looked up at her

"How can you be overwhelmed by something you've had since you were born?"

"It's not about the eyes actually, it's what my clan does about it. To preserve it and- Gomen, Sasuke. But can we just leave it at that?" Hinata said quickly after realising what she was saying. Tears were starting to form and she was using all her will to not let it spill.

"Hyuuga, if you have something to say, you should just say it." Sasuke said as he placed the mop and pail back at the wall before turning towards her.

Hinata shook her head lightly. "There's nothing to say," she said softly. Her body was shaking as she was suppressing her tears. She wasn't going to cry. Not here, not in front of him. But her tears were betraying her as they began to spill.

Before Hinata knew it, a hand was on the side of her face and her tears were slowly being wiped away by a thumb. Sasuke was in front of her. Yes, he was that fast.

"Sasuke?" Hinata asked, surprised by his action.

"What's bothering you, Hyuuga?"

And just like that, Hinata was crying. Sasuke's simple question was a like a magnet to her tears. It felt like it needed to be out after being held back for so long. Sasuke hugged her until she was weeping into his chest. Hinata was out of control, she didn't care anymore who she was with. All she knew was that it felt comforting knowing that someone was holding her reassuringly as she cried her heart out. They lasted like that for a few minutes until Hinata eventually calmed down.

"You really don't remember do you?" Sasuke suddenly said,

"Eh?" Hinata asked confused as she lifted her face from Sasuke's chest.

"The spot where our mothers used to take us? We were about five years-old and would go there at least twice a week. And you used to call me duck-butt because of my hair." Sasuke said, placing his hand on Hinata's head as she looked at him with her puffy red eyes.

"We would always play hide-and-seek or if our mothers were up for it, we'd play tag... At least up until your mother passed away that is."

Hinata was silent for a moment, trying to remember such memories as her eyes searched Sasuke's half covered face. Sasuke and her were childhood friends? Where did that come from? Yeah their clan compounds were pretty near to each other. It's possible they've bumped into each other before but being told that her mother always brought her to play with him and his mother. And to joke about his hair? Hinata would never joke about anyone's hair. That seemed too unlikely.

"Why don't I remember any of this?" She asked, bewildered by the sudden information.

"Well… for starters," Sasuke shifted his weight onto his other leg. "Kaasan told me that you were really upset when your mother passed. We rarely get to see each other after that, at least not until we entered the academy. But even back then, I seemed invisible to you."

"Gomen… But I really don't remember anything." Hinata withdrew herself from Sasuke, feeling guilty that she did not remember such memories.

"Don't be sorry, we were just children back then. You're right, we barely know each other. And I… I was pretty occupied with my own agendas too back in the academy." He replied stoically.

Hinata looked at him, at his expressionless face before he turned to look out the window. Even if Sasuke tried to emit this blank canvas of a personality that seemed intimidating to most people, Hinata somewhat found it familiar, familiar enough to make her feel calm. She didn't feel like a nervous wreck anymore and it felt refreshing. Hinata smiled to herself, before saying

"Then let's get to know each other again."

With that, Hinata headed straight towards the mop and pail he left at the side earlier and headed towards the next room.

"Where are you going with that?" Sasuke asked surprised of her actions.

From the next room he heard her yell, "Helping you clean before we start figuring out what's going on with my eyes!"

Sasuke smirked and went over to where she was, passing the clock on the wall which stated that it was already 12 o'clock in the middle of the night.


	7. Romeo

_Hello, again. I got some time today to write this chapter, I hope it doesn't seems rushed. And thanks again for those of you who reviewed. I hope for more! This chapter contains a little bit of family drama. As always, enjoy!_

Truth be told, Hinata was extremely exhausted. She went back to her room around four in the morning. Hinata had spent the whole night helping Sasuke cleaned his house and it was safe to say that his house was now dust free and completely inhabitable.

Without taking a bath, she straight away went to bed. At least she thought she did, because it felt like no sooner after she dozed off did Mitsuko, her house keeper entered her room.

"Hinata-sama, gomen ne. I've knocked but you did not answer. Your father asked me to wake you up for breakfast."

"Huh?" Hinata said groggily as she sat up on her bed.

"Breakfast, Hinata-sama." Mitsuko repeated in simpler words.

Looking at the clock by her bed, her heart stopped. It was one hour passed their normal breakfast time. Panicked, she quickly got up.

"Arigato, tell my father I'll be down shortly," She said with a quick bow before heading towards her toilet.

Hyuuga Hanabi was a curious and not to mention mischievous child. Now at fifteen years-old, the potential clan leader was at her prime time of her curious nature. While arranging her kunai set in her bedroom, she suddenly heard the thunderous sound of someone running down the hallway. It was unheard of, especially here in the ever-quiet Hyuuga household. Curious of course, Hanabi poked her head outside her bedroom door only to catch a glimpse of dark blue hair disappearing around the corner of the long hallway.

Notifying that it was her sister Hinata, she followed in pursuit. Downstairs, she could hear her sister greeting their father before sliding the door to the dining room closed. Masking her chakra, something she learnt just recently, she found a spot where she could both peep and eaves drop on the conversation between the two.

It wasn't the first time for Hanabi, she had always took the liberty to listen on other people's conversation in the Hyuuga compound, because she was that, curious. Her sister once told her the importance of respecting other people's privacy. But the advice just went through one ear and out the other. She couldn't change her nature, at least not yet. Knowing that her sister didn't come down for breakfast that morning, she knew something was definitely up.

"Hinata, have a sit." Hiashi said, looking sternly at her.

"Otousan, I'm sorry for not coming down for breakfast," Hinata began saying.

A tense silence passed through.

"Where were you last night?"

"I… I was in my room,"

"Hah, interesting. At twenty years-old, and you begin to lie to me. Where were you last night?"Hiashi repeated his question more sternly.

"…."

"Hinata!" Hiashi raised his voice. Both the Hyuuga sisters were startled.

"I was outside" Hinata spoke slowly.

"I thought I raised you better than this. What were you doing with the Uchiha boy?"

Hinata seemed startled by their father's comment. And Hanabi admit, she was too.

"I saw you leaving with him when I was taking a walk outside. Did you invite him to your room?"

Hinata who was still staring at the cup of tea which was placed directly in front of her, shook her head slowly.

"Then why was he here?" Hiashi asked in a steely voiced that could send shivers down the spine of anyone who was listening to their conversation.

"Sasuke-kun was asking for my help. That was it." Hinata replied even quieter than before.

Another silence ensues.

"Hinata, please I ask you. Do not see him again."

"But otousan, why can't I see him?" Hinata piped.

"Because between the Hyuuga and Uchiha, we just do not mingle. And that Uchiha boy, after all he's done, you're best to stay away from him. He's bad blood."

"Otousan, please do not say that." Hinata finally said sternly as she looked into their father's eyes.

"Hinata!" Hiashi slamming his cup of tea on the table, finally angered. "Why can't you be more like your sister and do as I say?!"

Hanabi can see her sister gripping both her hands tightly. She was shaking with anger.

"I think you should know your place by now in the Hyuuga clan," Hiashi continued saying.

"Gomennasai, but I'll be going now." Hinata said curtly, before excusing herself.

Hanabi quickly hid as her sister exited the dining room and went straight outside. Hanabi had never seen her sister talk back to their father before and not to mention left him hanging. Hinata had always obeyed. She was the sweet and gentle one who took orders and respected them. Something was definitely going on. Even though shocked, Hanabi was keen on pursuing her investigation. She was going to help her sister.

* * *

Several days later, Sasuke was training in the Uchiha compound. That's the number one reason he was glad to move back. It's so that he can have his own training area. These days, it's better off being alone although occasionally, that dope would stop by and triy to persuade him to hang out with the rest of the rookie 9.

He always said the same thing. No. because he just wasn't ready to meet up with those boisterous group of people. He would have to confront Sakura, who still seems to have ignored him. Making Sasuke, feel guilty. Deep inside him, he was still unsettled. Still feeling like an outsider looking in. And he deserved it.

With a sigh, Sasuke blasted another tree with his chidori. Suddenly, he could sense a feign chakra. Someone was coming and he/she was trying to mask his/her chakra very well. But being Sasuke, he was still able to detect it.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said moments later with his back to the person who was about to approach him.

"Man, you're good. And here I thought I was doing a good job sneaking up on you," said a small female voice.

Sasuke turned around and saw that it was a teenage girl who had come to him. Judging by her looks, it was obvious she was related to Hinata. Aside from her identical lavender-tinted grey eyes, she possessed similar traits to Hinata except she had long brown hair that went down her hips, tied in a lose ponytail and her skin was slightly darker than that of Hinata's.

"My name is Hanabi. Hyuuga Hanabi. And I believe that you're very well acquainted to my nee-san." She began saying, with her arms crossed in front of her.

"Hn,"

So it was thenext heir of the Hyuuga clan. Sasuke wondered why she was here. During the past few days, he tried to contact Hinata but the security around the Hyuuga compound seemed to have increased lately. He was a bit disappointed with Hinata for not trying to seek him out herself. Not after agreeing to solve the mystery of her eyes. Sasuke had even began to think of dark thoughts for her lack of efforts, but at the very end pushed it away. He was a patient, he was going to give the Hyuuga some time.

"Listen, I have to be quick before my bodyguard notices I'm gone. I'll have to ask you what's going on between you and my nee-san?"

"We're just friends," he replied simply. Friends. What a foreign word. Aside from Naruto, Sasuke wasn't sure he had any. He earned a raised eyebrow from the heir.

"Right… Well, I'm just here to tell you that nee-san is being watched, let's just say twenty-four hours by Ko. So she's not going to be able to see you anytime soon."

"Who's Ko?"

"Her bodyguard,"

"What is with you people and bodyguards?"

"I don't know, it's like our arms, we're just born with it," Hanabi replied before noticing the error in her speech as her eyes trailed to Sasuke's stump. "I mean… uh… what I meant to say was…" she began nervously saying.

"Save it, I don't need your pity." Sasuke said curtly, feeling slightly annoyed.

Suddenly, feeling angered herself by his brusqueness, she said,

"Look, I don't know what is really going on between you two, because nee-san never says anything to me. And she's been depressed ever since Neji-sama passed away. But I love her all the same so I'm here to warn you to not further cause her anymore trouble."

"What trouble?" Sasuke asked bewildered.

"Our father saw you leaving our compound with her the other day." She said her face stern.

Oh… so that… well that explains everything.

"Fine, you don't have to worry about it anymore. I'll leave her alone." Sasuke said as he turns to leave.

"B-but wait!"Hanabi's voice suddenly panicked as she walked closer to him. "The thing is… I have a request," she began saying

Now it was Sasuke's turn to raise an eyebrow as he turned to face her again.

Hanabi stared at the ground suddenly looking nervous.

"The other day I saw onee-san stood up for you against our father. It was the first time since the war did I saw light in her eyes. She was like the old nee-san that I used to know, the one who was determined. She said pausing, "So, I'd like to ask you to continue seeing her. You seem to give her strength. And I think it's what onee-san needs right now."

There was silence as Sasuke was trying to process what Hanabi was saying. The future heir of a noble clan was asking him to befriend her sister? This conversation was beginning to take an unexpected turn.

"Are you aware of what you're asking me to do?" Sasuke finally said.

"Yes! Despite what other people seems to say about you, I trust onee-san's judgement. If she trusts you… well, so would I." She said smiling. "But be warned, if you mess with her expect dire consequences," Hanabi said in a darker tone, one hand balled up in front of her.

"Hah," Sasuke snickered as he finds this girl amusing something he finds it similar to her older sister. "I will remember that."

* * *

Hinata was in her room when she heard a thud in her room. It was a hawk. And it was perched on her chair. Hinata noticed there was a piece of rolled up paper, tied to its leg.

"Hello there, handsome bird." Hinata said to the hawk as she stroke its feathers before untying the note from its leg.

In the note, written by a small neat and slightly curved handwriting was;

 _Hanabi told me what happened. If you're able, I'll be in the library from 8 o'clock in the morning onwards, everyday. -S_

 __  
A small smile formed on her lips. Hinata had thought that Sasuke would be furious with her when she lost contact with him right after agreeing to work with him on the mystery of her eyes. But this proved, that he was still earnest on their agreement.

But before that, she had to see Hanabi right away. Hinata stepped out of her room, and walked just a little bit down the hall before knocking on Hanabi's room.

"You... May... Enter! "Came a singalong voice from inside.

Hinata did as she was told and saw Hanabi was bent over her desk, reading a book. She turned around and said, "Onee-chan!" with a big smile.

Hinata sat on her bed and straight away said, "Hanabi, what exactly did you tell Sasuke?"

Instantly, Hanabi's smile fell.

"Oh, that was quick. Well…" She began saying and got up from her chair. "I eaves dropped on the conversation between you and toucan that day. Heh, gomen ne?" She grinned.

"Hanabi!" Hinata said exasperatingly.

"Well, you know me. I can't help it when I'm curious. Anyway.. "Hanabi said and suddenly feeling excited she jumped on the bed in front of Hinata.

"Ne, nee-chan! What's he like?" Hanabi leaned towards her with eyes filled with wonder.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Hinata asked, surprised.

"What's Sasuke-san like? Is he as cool as he appears to be? I mean, I've talked to him but I wanna know YOUR take on him, "

"Ano... Well."

"Yes?"

"Why do you wanna know? "

Hanabi's expecting face turns into a scowl, her bubble of excitement, busted.

"Onee-chan! You're getting old. And I'm worried that you're not going to get married anytime soon. Nobody wants an old lady as a wife. Konohamaru-kun boasted to me once about his nephew. And I was like… No, that's not fair! I want a nephew or a niece too! Onee-chan you've got to get married soon!" Hanabi explained, animatedly. Her arms stretched in front of her to show how serious she was to her sister.

Hinata blushed. No, more like her whole face turned beet-red. And in a small voice she said,

"And what's this got to do with Sasuke-kun? "

Hanabi slapped her forehead, frustratingly.

" Onee-chan, I can tell you like him or you wouldn't risk going out late at night just to 'help' him and not to mention standing up for him against otousan! And here I thought, you won't ever get over Naruto. But you proved me wrong, Onee-chan! You're stronger than I expected-"

"W-wait, what?!" Hinata tried to stop Hanabi. This was getting out of hand.

"- and even if you don't get the guy, it's okay because his best friend is okay too. I mean look at him, Sasuke-san is so cool!"

Hinata was speechless. She has no idea how Hanabi can come out with such ideas. And to hear that she had no chance with Naruto at all, made her stomach churned. As she continued to listen to Hanabi going on about her and Sasuke, she was just relieved that Hanabi didn't know about the actual reason why she was seeing Sasuke. It's better if it was just between Sasuke and her.

"- I'm rooting for you, Onee-chan!" Hanabi said finally finished with her rant.

Hinata got up saying, "Well, thank you for your support Hanabi. But Sasuke-kun and me are just friends,"

"For now," Hanabi interjected. "Well, don't they all start out like that?" She continued saying, wiggling her brows at Hinata.

Hinata glanced at the book that Hanabi left face down on her desk earlier, the book was entitled 'Love and How it Begins'. Hinata sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"Hanabi..."


	8. Haunted

_First of all, I'm sorry for past grammar mistakes. I usually type on my phone these days in between classes, waiting for the train, cooking and you name it, whenever I get the chance to. I'll try to be more careful from now on! (Hopefully..)_

* * *

"So, like I was saying. Something is definitely going on between Sasuke and Hinata." said a blonde kunoichi as she held her hair back from touching the broth of her ramen as she leaned in to eat it.

"Hmm... Seems pretty unlikely to me. They'd be one odd couple." said the person with spiky black hair tied in a ponytail, lazily. He was resting his head on one hand over the countertop of Ichiraku Ramen shop, his bowl of ramen already finished.

"Ohayou! What are you guys up to? Ino, having problems with Sai again?" popped in a blonde boy out of nowhere before casually grabbing a seat next to them. Ino rolled her eyes at him, unable to give a comeback with her mouth full.

"Ah, Naruto. Perfect timing. Ino here just told me something odd about Sasuke." Shikamaru began saying as Naruto made his order.

"What about him? Oji-san, I'll have my usual, please!"

"You got it!"

"Ino said Hinata fainted in front of Sasuke when they were at the library the other day," Shikamaru continued saying.

"Fainted? Wow, Hinata-chan is that nervous around men, huh? I mean half the time she's with me it seemed like she could faint any time too." Naruto replied nonchalantly as he spun his chair to face the outside of the stall, his elbows resting on the countertop.

"Even after all these years, he still doesn't get it," Ino muttered to herself, shaking her head unbelievably.

Shikamaru heard her, but just stared at his oblivious blonde friend. He wondered how he could defeat so many strong enemies in the past with that simpleton mind of his. Someone must really be watching over him.

Shikamaru just sighed lazily, and dismissed the troublesome thought. Suddenly Naruto said,

"I'm just glad Sasuke has the heart to go out even if it's at that stuffy old library," Naruto suddenly said as he stared at the passer-by in the streets. Konoha was in its rainy season, the standard pre-winter phenomenon. The grey sky was filled with clouds, and thus the cloudy days.

"Hey! The library is not stuffy, I'm making sure that it'll be modern, easy-access and very chic looking place for those who wants to learn new materials. If you would take the decency to stop by, you would know!" Ino said haughtily before rolling her eyes over at Naruto again.

"Neh, libraries are too boring for me," Naruto said as he crinkled his nose.

Ino was about to go on again about the library but Naruto cut her off saying,

"Oh hey, is that Sasuke?! That teme actually came out of his nest! "

In a split second, Naruto was in front of Sasuke, blocking his way.

"You! I don't usually do this but come, ramen's on me today," Naruto began saying while slapping a hand on Sasuke's shoulder before noticing that there was someone behind him, hidden behind Sasuke's tall stature.

"Oi, Hinata… is that you?" Naruto said as he peeped behind Sasuke, pushing him to the side.

"Ohayou, Naruto-kun" Hinata replied.

Naruto eyed the thick stack of leather-bounded books Hinata was carrying. It seemed a bit too much for her to carry.

"Hinata, you want me to help you with those?" As he tried to grab the stack of books from her, both his hand overlapping Hinata's.

Hinata froze. Naruto was literally touching her hands and his face was inches away from her. She lowered her head quickly as a blush crept up on her cheeks, but soon her whole face was red.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun." She said as she tried to pull away from him, but Naruto just went along with her.

Hinata nudged to the right, and Naruto still followed her in that direction not letting go of the stack of books.

"Naruto-kun, really it's okay. You don't have to," Hinata said, her voice sounding more like a squeak and her face was now covered by her hair since she was looking down all the while.

"No no, these are too heavy for you, Hinata-chan. Let me—"Naruto began saying.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a force against his chest, pushing him backwards. It was Sasuke's arm, wrapped around his shoulders as he began dragging him to the Ichiraku stall.

"Idiot, let's just eat."

"Oh, well. See you later, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said waving at Hinata as he was dragged backwards by Sasuke.

Relieved, Hinata quickly said good bye to the both of them before leaving with her heavy load.

* * *

Hinata looked at the clock, it was half past eleven at night. She was still reading about the origin of the Samsara eye. Some old texts Sasuke and her dugged up from the library. According to Ino, all of the books has been digitalised and was in the process of being uploaded into the newly bought computers in the Konoha library. Ino was certain, that it would change the lives of the Konohans once they were ready.

Sipping her green tea, Hinata flipped to another page. She was really tired, but she knew she had to go on. She had some medical ninjutsu training right after she dropped off the books straight until around 8pm. And now, after having bathed and late dinner, she was studying the books she brought back.

Hinata massaged her neck with one hand. But as she is was reading, the air around her suddenly became cold. Hinata glanced at her opened window, and got up to close it. Upon sitting back down at her study table she tried to reach her cup of green tea but it wasn't where she left it. Weird. At the corner of her eye, she saw that it was on her bedside table. Getting up again, the windows suddenly burst open. Hinata yelped in surprise.

Her chair started to move, turning to face her and the book she was reading closed with a loud thud. Hinata started to look around her room, as one by one her frames fell to the floor, breaking as if being slowly pushed down.

Hinata ran to her door, trying to slide it open, but unfortunately it seemed to be locked. Frantic, she quickly turned around towards her window, and jumped out of it. However, she was pushed mid-air by a strong unseen force and she ended up crashing onto the big tree that grew right outside her window. She slid down grazing her right arm against its bark. As she hit the ground, it took her a few moments before she could force herself to stand up against her enemy. Her arm was bloody and had several wood splinters poking into her skin. Hinata winced, as she steadied herself in a fighting stance, her byakugan activated. Scanning the area with her almost 360° vision, she found no sign of life.

* * *

The next day, Sasuke was sitting in the library, rearranging a new stack of books, for the Hyuuga to read up. The amount of materials, they've read this far, could amount to more than what was required for their chuunin written exam. Sasuke didn't mind though, it's not like he had other things to do aside from train physically.

He heard someone came up the stairs to the level of the library where he was sitting. He looked up and saw someone walking, no limping towards him.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Sasuke." Hinata said as she approached him.

Sasuke was quiet momentarily. This was because Hinata looked so dishevelled. Her hair were sticking out in every direction at the top, and her long bangs were covering most parts of her face but her eyes which have black shadows beneath them, that contrasted considerably to her pale skin.

"Ohayou, "Sasuke finally replied.

Hinata set the books she was carrying with one hand on the desk before carefully taking a seat next to him. She looked like she was in pain.

"Uh..." Sasuke began saying carefully followed by a grunt, not sure on how to go on. Hinata looked strangely calm despite her appearance. He didn't want to touch any sensitive subjects, he wasn't ready to see tears.

"I've finished reading about the Samsara eye, but there weren't much new information." Hinata cut him off.

She was about to grab one of the books that Sasuke neatly arranged earlier, knowing it was her next set before Sasuke stopped her by grabbing her arm. Hinata whimpered in pain, confirming his suspicion. Sasuke then quickly but gently pulled up her sleeves to see that the whole length of her arm were bandaged up to her wrist.

"What happened to you?" he finally said, not caring anymore about the consequences.

Hinata slowly retracted her arm from him and said,

" Ano... I think I'm haunted. "Hinata said simply before leaning against her chair, looking straight ahead, avoiding Sasuke's eyes.

" And twisted your ankle? Why didn't you fix it?" He asked bewildered.

" I actually broke it. And this was all I could… do." She trailed off suddenly lost in her thoughts.

Sasuke kept silent, waiting for further explanation but instead Hinata suddenly got up and said,

"Gomen Sasuke, but can we not do this today,"

Sasuke watch as Hinata left, limping her way down the stairs. Still puzzled, he decided to follow her out. The books could wait.

Although Hinata was moving quite slowly with her limp, Sasuke kept a small distance from behind. He could see that she was distraught. She ended up entering a small coffee shop hidden in a small and narrow street.

Once inside, Sasuke took the seat opposite of her at a table for two. Hinata didn't even seem surprised he followed her. To be honest, Sasuke thought she looked kinda dead. A waitress came to take their order, before Sasuke began saying,

"Hinata, are you alright? "

" I don't know... But I do know one thing though. I am currently being haunted, "She turned to look at him in the eyes, and hers seemed lifeless.

" Why didn't you get your injuries healed? "

" They'll ask me a lot of questions. And if I answer them truthfully, they'll think I'm crazy."

Hinata sighed, exasperated as she massaged her temples with her fingers. By doing so, Sasuke could see that the right side of her face was badly scratched.

"You need to tell me what happened."

Hinata waited until the waitress came and took their order before telling him exactly what happened to her last night, including how she climbed back to her room to investigate the incident, and mending her wounds as best as she could. She even checked up on Hanabi down the hall, but she seemed to be fine and was soundly asleep.

"I read a text saying that the rinnegan, if altered, could attract unexpected things. Seeming that you have byakugan, your dojutsu might be a combination of both, a rinne-byakugan."

"But how come I have the rinnegan all of a sudden,"

"Hmm..." Sasuke began saying before taking a sip of his black coffee that just arrived. "That I'm not so sure yet. But judging by your story, it's actually possible that whatever attacked you last night could be a spirit."

Hinata was silent.

"How do I get rid of it? It's really troubling me." Hinata said as she looked worriedly at Sasuke.

"You start by seeing it." Sasuke answered pointedly.

* * *

 _Yes, I know I was a bit harsh on Hinata in this chapter. But what is actually bothering her? Keep reading and please, more wonderful reviews!_


	9. Stolen

_Lately, I've been obsessing over dried mangoes. Yummeh! Okay, so random. Anyways, I am in awe with people who can juggle two or more things at once. Truth is, I really want to improve on my writing even though I'm studying something so different from literature. To my readers, please bare with this slow process of mine!_

* * *

"Try closing your eyes and picture what you've seen before this," said a boy with mismatched eyes.

A pair of lavender-tinted white eyes closed shut.

"Okay… There's nothing," said Hinata.

"Concentrate harder," said Sasuke stressing on the word 'harder'.

Hinata who still had her eyes shut took a deep breath and resumed concentrating on her dark vision. She could hear the sound of the leaves rustling as the wind blew against the group of trees Sasuke and her were currently sitting under. The both of them were sitting cross-legged across from each other.

After having coffee, Sasuke suggested they go somewhere quiet where Hinata can learn to activate her 'Rinne-byakugan'- their current theory regarding it and thus, sitting where they are now. Sasuke told her to go fix her leg first, but Hinata insisted that she'll just heal it later herself. To her, the pain in her leg was nothing compared to the disturbances she's been getting. She barely had any sleep, and now with her eyes closed, she felt somewhat at peace. Enjoying the darkness, which was starting to cocoon her mind into a much needed slumber.

What seemed like minutes passed before Hinata suddenly felt a stinging pain on her forehead. Opening her eyes in surprise, Sasuke's hand was right in front of her face. He just flicked his finger onto her forehead.

"Are you falling asleep on me?" Sasuke asked pointedly, looking annoyed.

"Uh… gomen ne. I didn't mean to," Hinata said lamely as she rubbed her forehead. "I don't think this is working out," Hinata continued saying as she took out her leg and started applying the mystical palm technique again. This time, she was really going to fix it.

Sasuke looked irritated but saw a notebook the Hyuuga placed beside her and swiftly took it.

"Ano… Sasuke. Those are my notes from the materials we've studied." Hinata said as she stopped momentarily, healing herself. Her leg was getting better, but Hinata was feeling more and more depleted. After all, the mystical palm technique was one of the most chakra-draining ninjutsu. That's why mastering chakra control is the key component in the technique.

"Just heal yourself, Hyuuga." Sasuke said as he began flipping through her notes. Hinata did as she was told, resuming her previous concentration. She was used to taking orders from Sasuke by now, it just seemed like the way to go whenever she's around him.

The first thing that came to Sasuke's mind was that her handwriting was awful. It was so messy and irregular which surprised him because it didn't reflect her gentle and feminine demeanor at all. Moreover, her notebook not only contain notes regarding their case but she also inserted her grocery list, some salve-making recipe and a doodle, which seemed faded- due to aging of a certain spiky hair ninja. That liar, Sasuke thought to himself and snorted, earning a curious look from the Hyuuga, which he simply ignored. Although her handwriting were ugly, it was at least readable so Sasuke skimmed through her notes thoroughly.

"There," Hinata said as she moved her foot from side to side, checking if her efforts on healing it was a success. And it seemed to be since it was now pain free.

Sasuke noted her success, and started shifting closer to her, tucking back her now healed leg back into its cross-legged position. He leaned in on her face and stared at her eyes with his mismatched ones intently. He can see the dark circles around her eyes greatly from this view.

"Ano… Sasuke-kun?" Hinata began saying, her ears beginning to feel hot by the sudden close proximity.

"Shut up, I'm thinking" Sasuke said curtly as he stared deeper into her eyes.

Silenced, Hinata stared back at his one black eye that seemed like an endless abyss and his ripple-pattern rinnegan that people all over the shinobi world feared, which at the moment seemed to be somewhat hypnotising. Hinata remembered that night, at the Uchiha's compound where she cried her eyes out in Sasuke's embrace. It seemed like a dream to her because she still couldn't believe it herself that such unlikely event took place. At least between him and her that is. Sasuke pulled back with a grunt, clearly he was still thinking.

If it really was a spirit that was haunting her, it meant that she could somehow be able to contact it. Hinata still didn't know why, but she started thinking of ways a medium to the other world would contact the dead. It's not impossible since the second Hokage himself created a few forbidden jutsus that revolved around the dead back when he was alive.

"Sasuke-kun, I was really mad at you that time," Hinata suddenly said knocking Sasuke out of his train of thoughts. "And it was dark." Remembering the dimly lit storage room. It came out of nowhere. It wasn't like her to suddenly bring up something from the past, but just as quickly as the words left her mouth, she regretted it for fear of making their situation well… more awkward since she's not really the confrontational type.

"Hmph. And you tried to hit me." He added matter-of-factly as he leaned back on his one arm.

"Gomen, but you shouldn't have said those things too," Again, Hinata said before she could stop herself. It was like she had to say it. The Uchiha may be feared by most people, but that doesn't mean he can get away with everything.

An idea sparked in Sasuke's mind. He started to remove the piece of fabric that he used to wrap around his head in a head band-like fashion and handed it to Hinata.

"Cover your eyes with this," he instructed her.

"Okay… but why?" Hinata said warily as she took the purple piece of material that was handed to her.

"We're going to act out that time in the storage room." He explained plaintively.

When Hinata was done blank-folding herself she felt Sasuke's hand over hers. Hinata froze.

"Relax, just hold my hand Hyuuga. You saw the spirit or whatever it was when I blocked your attack. Meaning, it was upon our contact that the spirit manifested itself." Sasuke explained.

Seeing his logic, Hinata slowly- while feeling odd to do so, sandwiched Sasuke's hand between hers. Just like flower-pressing she thought to herself, trying to relax holding the ex-avenger's hand whose narrow fingers were so much longer than hers. Sasuke smirked at the way the Hyuuga was holding him, as if his hand was made out of thorns.

"Now think of something that angers you," Sasuke started saying.

"But I'm not angry,"

"Well think of something that'll make you angry,"

"…"

"Hyuuga,"

"I'm trying." Hinata said suddenly feeling pressured by Sasuke's instructions. It was hard because she was feeling rather awkward and embarrassed at the moment holding his hand like this. And not to mention exhausted due to lack of sleep. She just prayed that no one would come across them like this. She would have a lot of explaining to do.

Suddenly, Hinata felt something warm brushed against her lips. It felt very light and quick. She recoiled slightly from the sensation, letting go of Sasuke's hand before her brain finally registered that it was a kissed. Shocked, she pulled back her blind fold only to see a scowling Sasuke, his cheeks slightly tinted with the colour red.

"Did you j-just…. Kissed me?" She asked him, denying the sensation she just felt. Sasuke simply looked away, confirming her question.

How… how dare he?! That was her first kiss! It was supposed to be special. And as of lately she wasn't in her best of mood to have her first kiss stolen. It was a mistake. Being a hopeless romantic, Hinata had always dream that her first kiss would be with someone she loved. Someone who at that moment, seemed so out of reach. Someone so… not a possibility which just made her stomach churned uncomfortably. Hinata felt miserable. Miserably angry.

"Why'd you do that?!" Hinata started to say with anger. She was furious now.

Sasuke turned to face her again and grabbed both her hands by the wrists with his one hand, binding her.

"Let go!" she said as she tried to pull away from his grip. But the Uchiha was strong, he had a firm grip on her

"No Hinata, you're weak and slow. How'd you even get this far in life?" Sasuke said coldly as he started to get up on his feet pulling her with him.

"Let me go!" Hinata was shouting now, feeling really really angry with Sasuke.

"Maybe… this is the reason why Naruto doesn't notice you. You're weak." He continued saying.

Hinata stopped squirming underneath his iron grip and looked acidly at him. Sasuke could see that her white orbs flashing with rage before slowly being engulfed by blackness. It was as he thought, his plan was working. Like his sharingan, it required a slight of anger to activate them. And that's exactly what he was trying to invoke in the Hyuuga.

As Hinata's eyes finally turned into the pair of black eyes he once saw back in the storage room, with a quick swift motion he lifted her on his shoulder like a sack of potato and carried her to a nearby river. At the river he put her down where she could see her own reflection in the water.

"Look at your eyes, Hyuuga." Sasuke said as he pushed Hinata's head towards her reflection. "Now look around you and tell me what you see,"

Hinata was surprised to see her eyes were black, and just like what Sasuke said it did look like his rinnegan with its matching ripple-pattern. As Hinata looked around the forest, she tried to focus her vision by squinting her eyes slightly. Her whole vision suddenly turned black and white, similar to that of her byakugan.

Hinata tried to focus and unfocused her vision, testing the change of her vision colour, memorizing the control. She walked over to where Sasuke was standing, in her black and white vision. She could see that Sasuke's features seemed to be outlined by a white line as if he was drawn on a blackboard. As she looked around the area, she could see white shadows resembling humans only it was shaded in totally white.

To Hinata's horror, there were quite a few number of them around.

"S-sasuke-kun…" She stuttered as she walked towards him.

"What, what is it?" he said tentatively.

"I-I think we should be quiet," she said softly it was almost a whisper as she grabbed his arms, motioning for him to sit down.

Hinata was trembling. Sasuke could feel it as she pulled him to sit down by the river. With his piece of cloth still pulled up against her forehead, she looked really really dishevelled, her eyes wide open looking around with fear.

"O-okay…. Let's do this." Hinata whispered still trembling. Even though she was really frightened at the moment, Hinata knew what she must do. This could be her only chance. As the souls came towards her, she had to reach out to that one soul before it was too late.

"U-uchiha..." She started saying grabbing Sasuke's hand into hers like before.

"What?" Sasuke asked confused. Hinata's hands were trembling and it felt really cold. He could see sweat forming on the Hyuuga's face.

"Uchiha Sasuke is here!" She said aloud.

Moments later Hinata threw herself onto Sasuke, hugging him tightly, his cloak almost covering her a whole.

"I-I can't. I'm sorry, I can't. Please go away!" Hinata said as she sobbed into his shirt.

Hinata was crying now.

"Oi, Hyuuga. What's going on?" Sasuke said as he placed his palm onto her head.

Hinata was extremely scared. She held onto Sasuke like she's holding on to life itself. What she saw before her send shivers down her spine. It was so absurd it made her want to just curl into a ball of comfort. But at the time being, she was kneeling between Sasuke's legs, her face buried in his chest and her hands clutching onto his arms. Slowly, finding her courage she peeked above Sasuke's shoulder, trying to see behind him. She focused her vision again into the black and white dimension.

The white figure that came at her earlier made her dived into Sasuke out of fear. But now that she was looking at it again, it didn't seem so threatening. The white figure was hovering right behind Sasuke. If only he knew. But for now, he was making small circles on her back, trying to calm her down.

Instinct told her to unfocused her vision as she ask the white figure that was starting to colour itself, revealing its true form, "Who are you?"

A women with black hair and matching black gentle eyes looked at her with a small smile.

"Hinata-chan," She said.

A wave of shock went over her body. How did she know her name? As Hinata stared into the woman's face she found it strangely familiar. The shape of her eyes, the curve of her nose and her mouth. An almost accurate resemblance to Sasuke. As she was about to ask her who she was again, she was interrupted by a voice.

"Hinata-sama!" a man's voice was heard. And within seconds, Hinata was stripped away from Sasuke, the woman she was talking to disappeared.

It was Ko. And he had his byakugan activated while staring at Sasuke menacingly, pulling Hinata behind him in a protective way.

"Wait, Ko-san!" Hinata pleaded.

"What were you doing with her?" Ko addressed Sasuke, ignoring Hinata's pleading.

Hinata could hear Sasuke smirked, still sitting on the grass.

"You're pretty fast. I didn't even get the chance to detect you." Sasuke said, getting up.

"Answer the question, Uchiha. Why is she crying? Hinata-sama are you hurt? " Ko said before briefly turning to look at her.

"Ko-san, please listen to me. Sasuke didn't do anything to me, I promise." Hinata said as she stepped in between Ko and Sasuke, her eyes now back to its normal whitish colour.

"Hinata-sama, please as your caretaker, tell me the truth. What is your relation to him? "

"Please, Ko-san you know you're no longer my caretaker. I'll explain to you on our way-" Hinata said as she started to stir Ko away from Sasuke but was caught off guard when suddenly out of the blue moon, Sasuke said,

"I'm actually her lover," As he took a step forward.

Hinata staggered backwards upon hearing Sasuke's words. If she was surprised out of her mind, Ko's face amplified her expression to the power of ten.

Recovering from his shock, he looked at Hinata saying, "Is your father aware of this?"

"Of course not, he would have my head right now if he knew about us. If, I will it of course." Again Sasuke interjected whilst sounding slightly arrogant towards the end.

 _Us..._ Hinata's heart skipped a beat. What us?! However, she actually knew what Sasuke was doing. A sweat drop trailed down the side of her face. They had to take this lead, or else Ko would know what they were doing, and her father would know about it. She would be deemed crazy in an instant. Knowing that her father would not tolerate such a thing as... Ghosts. Hyuuga Hiashi was a hard man indeed when it comes to principles.

Ko grabbed Hinata's hand and led her away from the forest.

* * *

 _No, Ko! Why'd you have to intervene at such times? Haha okay, so I read somewhere that Ko is 9 years older than Hinata. I'd love to know what you guys think of the story so far. As always, any constructive criticisms are welcomed!_


	10. To Compromise

_I know it took me a while to upload this chapter. To be honest, I had trouble deciding the plot line of this fic. I'm just writing whatever scenes that popped in my mind these days. But, fret not! The plot lines are becoming clearer to me thanks to the reviews I've been getting. They really motivated me :D_

 _So, as always happy reading!_

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was back. He just returned from visiting all the other four hidden villages in the land of fire. It was required for him to do so before he is to be coronated as the Sixth Hokage. To be honest, he felt indifferent of his future. Yes, he is honoured to be leading the hidden village of the leaf as the Rokudaime. Who wouldn't after seeing all the previous Hokage reanimated from the dead, fighting feverously with the will of fire? Not to mention the Yondaime, his used to be sensei. A flash of yellow hair clouded Kakashi's vision. The person who had guided him through his darkest times. Also the person who had him watching over another blonde hair person from when he was just a foetus growing innocently inside a tummy. The child who would soon replace him of his soon to be job as Hokage.

"Good times are coming ahead," He muttered under his breath as he knocked on the Hokage's door.

Inside the office, a blonde hair woman dropped the report she was reading and gestured for him to take a seat with her hand. As far as Kakashi can remember, Tsunade has always brought with her an air of authority, an aura that not many women of her times carry. Having the Senju blood running through her veins, she was one of the most accomplished medic ninja at the present time, who also happened to be Konoha's Godaime. Tsunade took her glasses off and set it aside before saying,

"It's good to see you're alive and well,"

"I wouldn't miss coming back,"

"I hope you're ready to take the next big step in your life."

Kakashi chuckled before saying, "It depends on what you mean by 'next big step',"

Tsunade lifted an eyebrow curiously at him.

"Well, I'm not interested in your personal life, Kakashi, Except for your ex-students. Have you've been keeping up with them?,"

"To be honest, I haven't. But I assume that Sakura is well under your care. Naruto, would probably still be pretty enthusiastic in his pre-Hokage training as suggested by the council. And as for Sasuke—"

"Ah, yes… Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade cut him off. "But of course, the topic all of us must tamper with caution."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked as he placed his foot on a knee, his hands that were resting on the armrests were now interlaced.

"While you've been away for the past two years, I have come up with a theory," she began saying.

"Please, enlighten me."

"We have Sasuke, the last standing Uchiha. A shinobi no doubt full of potential." Tsunade began saying as she got up from her chair and turned to stare outside the window that was perched behind the Hokage's desk. "But we can't have the sole Uchiha to be one-handed." She finally said as she turned to face him.

Kakashi looked inquisitively at her and said matter-of-factly, "You want him to produce an heir?"

Tsunade laughed at the question.

"You're thinking too far ahead, Kakashi. But I don't blame you," she said after recovering from her untimely laughter.

"I have begun researching the likes of regenerating a lost limb, taking into consideration what some of our Konohans could offer, such as clans with special abilities like the Aburame, Yamanaka and Hyuuga."

Kakashi noted how Tsunade said the Hyuuga clan last. He doesn't know why but he could tell where the conversation was going.

"We may have highly trained medical ninjas, but for this project to be a success we must seek for a medical ninja who has a little bit more to offer." She continued saying.

"Therefore, I sought out all potential possibilities and landed with one with 80% success rate."

Kakashi who kept silent up until now, was definitely intrigued by what Tsunade was saying.

"The byakugan can see our chakra flow even if a part of the body part is not there, using this as a guide I have discovered several ways to multiply the different cells of our bodies, that will further develop into body tissues that will later become bones, muscles, nerves and you name it."

"So the likelihood of Sasuke growing back his arm with the help of a Hyuuga is possibly high?" He asked confirming his understanding,

"Exactly,"

"How many Hyuugas are required for this project?"

"Just one actually,"

"And who would that be?"

"I've had a talk with Hyuuga Hiashi, and he offered me his eldest daughter, Hyuuga Hinata. He told me, since she was no longer the next Hyuuga heirness, she should redeem herself through this project. And her age, makes her byakugan agile to contort to this project too."

"Sounds like a perfect plan. Has it been in motion?"

"Yes, she's been having basic medical training under some of my best medical ninjas for the past two and a half years. And she is showing promising results. I'm going to prepare her properly before pursuing the plan. I just wanted to tell you of my agendas before passing my post to you," Tsunade explained thoroughly.

"Understood. But may I ask one question?" Kakashi said as he lifted up one hand.

"What is it?"

"Why is reviving the Uchiha so important?"

Tsunade smiled at him before saying,

"Some things are better off knowing when it's in your blood."

* * *

None of Hinata's friends knew what she was really doing for the past two and a half years. Yes, they knew she's been training medical ninjutsu at the hospital. But they never knew the real reason why. Even Kiba and Shino, her supposedly closest friends were clueless. And as of lately, since the war the two of them has been busy preparing themselves to take over the title of clan head. While Hinata, has been spending her time reading medical books and journals quietly in her room. She even gave up on tending her garden, which had always been her hobby. She missed her flower pressing days.

It wasn't easy at first. Hinata was not the type to keep secrets from her loved ones especially by lying. But it was a top secret project that belongs to the Godaime. And she was just a part of it. Although her role hasn't even begun, Hinata was just honoured that her father had entrusted her with something so big, it made her feel slightly of importance again in her clan. However, as days become weeks and weeks becomes months and later years training as a medical ninja… Hinata began feeling the strain.

It's not that she hated learning medicine, at first it took her a while just to digest a few texts. But with alternate help from Sakura and Ino, she later got the hang of it. Even though she was far behind compared to their level in medical ninjutsu—she was six years behind them, it did not falter her spirit. Because she knew she was doing something for the village, for her father, for Sasuke even though she had no idea how involved he would be in her life later on. But most importantly, she did it for herself.

When her father told her, he had offered her to the Hokage as part of her project to regenerate the last Uchiha's hand. At the very beginning, she was terrified of the idea. Because she had to cram the said six years of the medical ninjutsu training she had missed. And thus the nearly 12 hours of training per day ever since she was eighteen. Thanks to the post war situation she was able to learn most of the syllabus within two years. But darn, it was a very long and stressful two years. It changed her, not only internally but also physically. The Hyuuga elders kept saying that her posture was degrading, making her develop a habit to check herself in the mirror before leaving her room. Her eyes also began to puff due to tiredness and just as it was now, black circles would develop around them when lack of sleep.

But she didn't care. She was never one who cared how beautiful she should look like. For Hinata, a decent and proper appearance is more than enough. Ever since her long standing crush on a certain blue-eyed boy slowly died—slowly meaning that it wasn't completely gone. Hinata still feel flustered whenever Naruto is in too close of a proximity to her, but unlike her old self, she didn't hyperventilate or worse fainted. She would just turn red, and for Hinata, that was a big enough change.

Sometimes you can hate yourself, but you also need to forgive yourself.

Hinata sighed and looked out her window to the greyish-blue sky. Time does change a person. It mends broken hearts, it opens room for new resolution. It… well it's all we've got in hopes for a better future. To prove it, Hinata has stopped falling head over heels when it comes to Naruto. It was as if her feelings took a halt. Still there, but it was no longer brewing, in fact it felt like it was slowly fading. It'd be a big lie if she said that she was over him. Nobody gets over their first love. At least, not easily.

"Hinata-sama, gomen ne but your father is calling for you," Mitsuko appeared in her room after a gentle knock.

Her father was having tea at a veranda facing the Koi pond they own. Hinata greeted her father and sat down next to him, joining him on viewing their beautiful garden.

"You called for me, Otousan?"

"Hinata, I have some news for you," he began saying before taking a sip of his tea. "The Hokage just sent me a letter regarding your studies. She told me that you would be having your final examination in another month,"

"Ano… Like the end of the basic training?"

"Yes, she told me that you are a fast learner, which she said was quite rare to find amongst those training to be medical ninjas," Hiashi paused with a small smile on his face.

Hinata suddenly felt a flutter in her heart. It's been a while since she saw her father smile like how he was smiling now. It felt like an accomplishment.

"So, here is the list of your study materials that you need to cover before the exam," Hiashi said as he handed her an envelope.

"Arigatou, otousan." Hinata said as she took the envelope from him.

"And… Since, your studies is going well. I've decided to unground you. But there are two conditions that go with it,"

"What is it, otousan?" Hinata asked as her heart began to flutter happily. Ungrounded? That was such a piece of good news!

"Number one, tell Uchiha Sasuke to come see me because I know once I let you out, you're bound to see him or the other way around, it doesn't matter."

"B-but—" Hinata began to protest at the accusation as her cheeks started to feel hot all of a sudden.

"And secondly," he cut her off before saying, "Please take better care of yourself. You're losing weight, and you look so pale I could swear sometimes I think you look like a ghost," Hiashi said concernedly as he looked at her face.

Hinata smiled.

"My, Otousan. If only you'd know."

* * *

She was doomed. He knew it, but refused to believe so even though it has been a few weeks since he last saw or heard anything from her. If he were to follow his desire right now, he would break into the Hyuuga compound again and kidnapped the Hyuuga princess just so they could pick up where they left off, thought Sasuke as he suddenly awoke from his sleep in the middle of the night. But that kiss though—Sasuke touched his lips. It was actually spontaneous even for him. He just wanted to make the Hyuuga angry, not that he has any other purpose to touch her soft lips with his—even though he can't deny felt better than he expected it to be. Sasuke has never bothered to kiss a girl before, even though many would put their lips on a silver platter for him. Girls, to Sasuke was just too much. Maybe it was due to childhood trauma. But still, not all girls from his childhood were hormonal fangirls of his, there was that one girl with the boyish blue haircut. The one who he usually met amongst trees. The same one he just gave both of them the luxury of having their very first kiss.

Sasuke got up from his bed and headed towards the kitchen to get himself some water. The inauguration for the sixth Hokage was coming up soon. Up to this day, he hasn't seen the white haired man who used to be his sensei. Hatake Kakashi was one of the few people that Sasuke could ever give any respect to. Although in strength he could defeat him easily, but Kakashi is no ordinary ninja he has wits that was earned through ages and ages of experience something that young bloods like him could not yet achieve. And thus, he was appointed the role of the Sixth Hokage.

Thinking about the soon to be Hokage, his mind trailed off to Naruto, who the Konoha council had already lined him up to be the Seventh. It was no surprise, after the war Naruto had become sensational throughout the Shinobi world. The used to be outcast of a jinchuuriki is now the most highly appraised ninja. Everyone who had lived through the war would know his name like a heartbeat. Naruto resonated with the new age Shinobi world. He was the light. And Sasuke… well he was the darkness.

Suddenly he heard a rapping sound against his window. It was a messenger bird. He opened his window and the bird flew onto his shoulder with a paper tied to his leg. Untying it from the bird's leg Sasuke slowly opened it and read its content.

"Wow… this is an odd request." Sasuke muttered to himself.

* * *

 _Wow, I smell a confrontation in the next chapter. And don't forget to review because maybe... just maybe I'll upload the next one sooner!_


	11. Approval

_Someone asked me for more Sasuhina moments. Your wish, is my command. Enjoy :)_

* * *

The wind was blowing really strongly that day as a boy walked against its direction, his black coat fluttering behind. It was as if nature was opposing him from reaching his intended destination. As he pierced through the wind, he regretted for not wearing a more appropriate attire for such weather. Winter was coming.

Sasuke paused at the main gate similar to the Uchiha's but instead of brick walls surrounding the compound, it was gated in a more traditional way. A ninja appeared before him, it was the person who took Hinata away from him that day.

"Ah, so you actually came." Ko said deadpan as he straightened his bandanna which covered most of his hair.

"Hn,"

"Hiashi-sama is waiting for you," Ko continued saying as he opened the gate for Sasuke.

Inside the Hyuuga compound, Sasuke could detect a lot of whitish chakra. But however many they were, he couldn't trace that of one he was used to feeling. He looked around the very well organised compound. It had evenly cut grass, a lot of well-maintained plants and garden decorative.

As they reached the main branch's household, he removed his sandals before entering. Inside, Sasuke was brought through a series of hallways before reaching a room with a closed door. Ko instructed him to wait as he entered first. Sasuke could already feel the presence of a white proud chakra radiating from within. And he could also tell that the owner of said chakra felt his presence too, and was ready to face him.

"You may go in," Ko said as he stepped out of the room moments later.

Sasuke could hear the door slid shut behind him as he entered what seemed to be a tea room. He could see multiple paintings of flowers and trees on the wall. A table was located at the centre of the well-furnished room. And at the table a man with long hair wearing a white yukata sat with his arms crossed in front of him—he was no doubt the famous Hyuuga clan leader, Hyuuga Hiashi. Sasuke took a short bow as he stopped a few metres away from the man. It was basic ethics that was ingrained in him by his mother. Not that he was one that easily showed respect to others. At least, not for a while now.

"Have a sit," the Hiashi instructed him with a deep voice.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Sasuke said as he did what he was told.

"I believe you know why you're here?" Hiashi still in his deep ambience voice asked him.

"I would say this is about your daughter, Hinata—" Sasuke was about to stop before finishing his sentence with "—chan."

Damn it, he wasn't used to using honorifics despite being well-trained by his late parents also. It's just because he hasn't been using it for a while which made it more of a struggle than the simple bow he just did. But something with the way Hiashi brings himself made Sasuke decided to do this the old-fashion way or in other terms, the formal way.

"I'm glad you're not the beat-around-the-bush type, but when I ask you a question, I hope to receive the honest answer." Hiashi said as he stared straight into Sasuke's eyes.

It would be a lie if Sasuke said he didn't feel intimidated at the moment. He didn't know why, but something in Hiashi's hard eyes made him feel uneasy—like guilt-tripping a person. However, his many years of walling up himself has not made the expression on his face, betray him.

"I would apply the same concept for myself," Sasuke said monotonously.

"Is it true you are my daughter's lover?" Hiashi asked straight to the point.

"Yes," a piece of something within Sasuke felt broken as he lied. It wasn't broken like how one would feel after hearing bad news. It was the kind that made his heart felt somewhat lighter and not to mention, slightly weary. Which he wasn't sure why as he usually feels indifferent when he lies. But this time, it felt strange. It felt like a commitment.

"And may I know what is it you see in her?" Hiashi continued asking him.

"Unlike most women, she doesn't seem to have any hidden agendas. She's gentle and her eyes are honest," _Unlike yours that's starting to creep me out._ Inwardly, he added to himself.

Sasuke wasn't lying this time. It took him a while to figure out why he had no trouble spending time with the Hyuuga girl. Albeit, he remembered kissing her felt… okay. But still, it wasn't in Sasuke's nature to be comfortable with the opposite gender as he was to Hinata.

"Hmm… interesting. But that's a fact that most Konohans know about her. What is your real intention, Uchiha?" Hiashi asked calmly even though the question itself felt like flying daggers directed toward him.

"I have taken an interest in your daughter. It's as simple as that." Sasuke stated before saying, "And… she reminds me of my mother."

The last part came out of nowhere. Sasuke himself, was surprised by what he said. He earned himself an amused look from Hiashi, which was the first change of emotion he showed throughout their entire meeting.

"Ah, Uchiha Mikoto. She has been a good friend to my late wife." Hiashi said finally.

Although, Sasuke already knew about it, this piece of information still surprised him coming from Hiashi's mouth. It made it even real.

"You know my mother?" Sasuke asked.

Hiashi smiled at the question.

"Of course I know her. We were all in the same class back in the Academy. And as I mentioned before, she and my late wife were good friends,"

"And that didn't become… a problem?" Sasuke asked now more intrigued than ever.

"The unspoken rule between a Hyuuga and an Uchiha. I know exactly what you mean by that question."

Sasuke contemplated on his next move. Should he proceed asking or wait for Hiashi to answer his question properly since he left it off vaguely.

"Why doesn't these two clans mingle? When you introduced yourself to me as my daughter's… lover. This question indeed played in my mind." Hiashi spoke suddenly. "Many times."

"I understand our clans has its political reasons as to why we don't mingle." Sasuke said as he surrendered on pursuing this subject.

"I don't blame you for being in the dark about this matter," Hiashi said. "It was after all, unexpected for such a fate to fall on you, son."

Sasuke who was looking down at the table looked to meet Hiashi's gaze as he heard him said that.

"And although the past paved the present, maybe it is better if we talk about the present for the future's sake." Hiashi continued saying.

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked.

"My daughter, Hinata is not a toy that one can simply play with, gets bored and throw it away." Hiashi responded sternly as he unfolded his arms and placed both hands on his knees.

"Yes, I know that."

"So I'll ask you again, what is your real intention with Hinata? If you are what you say you are, you should man up to taking her as your bride instead of just a lover." Hiashi said briefly before continued saying, "Or at least have the idea in your head."

Uchiha Sasuke has been in countless mind-numbing situations but having marriage thrown in his head wasn't one of it. And to have the head of the Hyuuga clan so casually suggesting him to marry his daughter was just surreal even for him. Was this a trick? A tactic? A trap to lure him in or something? Sasuke sought all potential reasoning. So as he sat there staring blankly—which was something foreign for him, he collected his thoughts carefully before saying.

"I would have no problems taking her as my bride. It is your clan that has pre-emptive traditions. And not to mention, for Hinata to agree to this arrangement as well." Sasuke said as his mind trailed to the ugly spiky-haired drawing he saw in Hinata's notebook.

Hiashi grunted at his response.

"Aha, so it's as I thought. Very well, I supposed I've come to a conclusion today." Hiashi said.

"Wait. What?" Sasuke asked, confounded slightly losing his well-maintained mannerism.

Sasuke felt lost. And again, it was another foreign feeling that overcame him. What is it with this Hiashi guy that made Sasuke feel all confused?

"You may see my daughter but there are two conditions. First, don't you ever hurt my daughter or you will indeed face a bleak future. And secondly, please take good care of her." He replied simply before he got up to leave.

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke asked as Hiashi walked pass him, heading towards the door.

"Maybe it's time for a change, don't you think so?" Hiashi replied as he stopped walking.

Sasuke was silent, still trying to figure out the event that was unfolding at the moment.

Taking his silence into consideration, Hiashi continued walking towards the door and just before exiting the tea room he finally said to Sasuke,

"After all, aren't you interested in my daughter?"

* * *

Hinata wiped the sweat off her forehead. One more time, she had to get it right this time. It was a nice day to be out—not too sunny and not too… rainy. It wasn't raining, it was just very windy. She had permission to borrow a human dummy to practice on. And at the exact moment, she was practicing applying a urinary tract cannulation. She felt the need to do it outside even though it was slightly cold as she was tired of being indoors for some time now.

As her fingers steadied on her targeted area, her hair fell down to the side of her face, slightly covering her vision. Hinata was getting irritated, this is like the millionth time it happened today. Too bad she forgot to bring a hair tie or something to keep it back, which she didn't know why she kept it long in the first place. Her used to be boy-cut hair was so much more practical for living. With that in mind, she reached for a kunai from her back pouch as she grabbed her hair upwards. She was going to cut it off—This was it, good bye hair.

"What are you doing?" A voice suddenly interrupted her.

Dropping her hair out of surprise, Hinata turned to look at the person. "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke walked towards her and looked at the dummy suspiciously.

"A-ah, before I forget, here. This is yours." Hinata said as she placed her kunai aside and reached for Sasuke's purple scarf that she has folded neatly and handing it out to him with both hands.

"Were you trying to cut your hair?" He said, ignoring the scarf in Hinata's hands.

"Ano… yes, it was getting in the way," Hinata said, scarf still in her hands.

"Tch," Sasuke smirked.

"Please Sasuke-kun, take your scarf. I've already—"

Suddenly, Sasuke was behind her and with a quick swift motion, he took all of her hair in his hand and tied it into a knot.

"Give me that," he said as he grabbed the scarf out of Hinata's hands as she remained frozen in her spot—seeming to be speechless.

Unravelling the scarf, he placed one end on the top of her head. And using his chin, he kept it in place while he wrapped the rest of the scarf around her head with his hand.

"Please don't take such drastic measures, Hyuuga." Sasuke said after he secured the other end in the wrapped scarf.

Hinata touched her head. Her hair was now secured. She looked at Sasuke as he moved to sit in front of her, on the other side of the dummy.

"Are you going to insert a needle there?" he asked monotonously as he looked at the dummy's private part.

"A-arigatou, Sasuke-kun for this." Hinata began saying her hands were still at the side of her head.

Sasuke just looked at her, his expression blank.

"And y-yes. I have to insert it there, so the patient can urinate properly into a bag." Hinata said, blushing. She didn't know why but she felt awkward discussing the subject with the boy in front of her. And not to mention, it was a male dummy she was working on.

"Right…" Sasuke said as he shifted in his seat. "Anyway, I've talked to your father."

"You did? What did he want?" Hinata said.

"For me to not hurt you and…" Sasuke said and his eyes were on hers. "… To make you fat."

"What?!" Hinata was not expecting that answer. Was he teasing her?

"Let's go," he said as he got up from where he was seating.

"Go where?" Hinata was getting confused now. "What did my father said to you?" as she too stood up.

"Your father said I can see you on the basis of those two condition. So, deal with it. We still have a lot to learn, in case you've forgotten."

Oh… yes. Hinata was so used to her sixth sense now that it wasn't primarily on her mind anymore. She had other things on her mind now—her exams were her main priority which she had only less than a month to prepare. And it was true, her clothes were getting a bit lose nowadays.

"B-but Sasuke-kun. I'm a bit busy with my upcoming exams at the moment. I don't think I can continue," she said.

"You can't stop now. How much time do you have before your examination?"

"About a month."

"Like I said, you can't stop now. Not after all that has happened."

A flash of the kiss went through Hinata's mind. Hinata blushed furiously at the thought.

"We have to continue. I'll make sure you will be prepared for your exams when the time comes." Sasuke finished saying.

Hinata was silent, as her two index fingers met each other.

"Ano… Sasuke-kun. W-what you said to Ko the other day, what does it m-mean?" Hinata was stuttering. Something that hasn't happened for a while now.

Sasuke was silent for a moment, before saying "What do you want it to mean?"

His question puzzled her. This boy was exasperating.

"Because I'm fine with whatever it means. Now let's go eat." He said before grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the village.

Hinata felt light-headed all of a sudden. _What does he mean by that?_

* * *

 _Thanks for all the reviews. As I get lost between endless requirements, the reviews I've been getting reminded me of my SasuHina passion. And thus, inspiring me to write more. Domo arigatou!_


	12. Study Partner

_Hey there! Sorry for the late update. To be honest I'm feeling kinda like Hinata right now. Swamped! Only there's no such Sasuke with me :(_

 _Anyways, enjoy the chap!_

* * *

"Hinata has been home a lot lately, huh?" Shikamaru said as he glanced at his teammates. The Ino-Shika-Chou trio was having another one of their regular meetings in a dango shop.

"Yup, haven't seen her around," Chouji said before stuffing another dango stick in his mouth.

"I kinda feel bad for her sometimes. I mean, what did she even do to get herself grounded for so long?" Ino spoke but quickly covered her mouth, realising she said too much already.

Shikamaru lifted an eye brow and turned to look at her.

"She got herself in trouble? How did you know? "

"Ugh... Since, I've said it. Well, the other day I asked Shino if he'd seen her around and he told me usually when she suddenly disappears, means she did something wrong, and the Hyuugas would ground her for a few days. Shino also said not to worry, because his bugs did find that Hinata was safe in her house, "

"Wow, but I don't know... I think this has been more than a few days already," Chouji said.

"Must've done something wrong, real bad." Ino said with a shrugged.

Shikamaru snorted. "I never thought Hinata was capable of doing anything that bad to be punished like she is now."

"Oh come on Shikamaru, everyone has two sides of the coin in them-

"One being sunshiny and the other stale and rusted." Suddenly a boy with straight black hair wearing a cropped shirt said as he entered the dango stall.

Ino smiled upon hearing his voice and said,

"That's my boy," pleased that Sai remembered her usual rants on philosophy.

"Oi, Sai. Speaking of which, you've been away for some time too," Shikamaru said as he pat Sai on the back after he sat down next to him and opposite to Ino.

"Who else has been away?" Sai asked, curious.

"Hinata. She's been grounded cuz she did something wrong," Chouji answered.

"Hinata-chan? Wow, this is making me confused. I don't recall her being the trouble maker type,"

"Everyone gets a little wild from time to time, Sai. It's only natural for Hinata to do it too, " Ino said as she brushed Sai's bangs out of his face. "Your bangs are getting long, you wanna cut it?"

"You really think so? I hadn't noticed," Sai said as he touched his hair.

"Let the man have his freedom, Ino," Shikamaru said plaintively. He knew how bossy Ino can be sometimes.

"No way, if it grows any longer, you'll end up looking like Sasuke,"

"Ahah, good one." Chouji pointed out.

"Hey, is Sakura here?" Naruto who suddenly came bursting in the shop, looking excited.

"Yo, Naruto!" Shikamaru greeted him.

"She's at her home, taking a short nap before going back to the hospital," Ino answered him.

"Oh okay, thanks!" Naruto said before quickly disappearing as fast as he came.

"Oi, I said she's taking a nap, Naruto!" Ino yelled after him, knowing the idiot will probably get knocked off if he decided to bother Sakura from her nap, which she takes it very seriously these days.

"Well, you've tried." Chouji said as he reached for his twentieth dango stick.

"He didn't even notice I was here," Sai said sadly.

Everyone turned and looked at him.

"Ohayou, everyone." A small voice was suddenly heard from the opposite direction. The gang turned their heads almost 180⁰ away from Sai.

"Hinata!" Ino called out in surprise, while the men were more poised in hiding their bewilderment.

"Ne, I thought you were grounded?" Chouji said as he leaned on one hand on the table.

"Yeah Hinata, I'm guessing you're free now huh?" Shikamaru added.

"Guys! What is wrong with you people? Can't you see she looks different?" Ino piped walking over to Hinata.

"Ah, Hinata-chan. That's a kawaii scarf you have there," Sai joined in.

Hinata seemed flustered at the sudden attention she was getting.

"Hinata, what happened to you? You look so… malnourished."

"Ino! Don't say that." Shikamaru said from behind her.

"No no… I haven't seen you in nearly a month and now you look like this. Are you alright?" Ino continued saying while placing a hand on Hinata's bony shoulder.

Hinata raised both hands in front of her, a gesture to calm her friends down and began explaining to them about her upcoming exam. On how she was too caught up in her studies that she wasn't aware of the unbalanced diet that came with it. She left out the supernatural part of course. And not to mention the involvement of a certain boy.

"I see, so you're a…." Sai began saying as he tried to think of the perfect adjective to describe Hinata. "…bookworm."

"No, Sai, in cases like this. We just call her a nerd." Ino said matter-of-factly.

"Ino!" Shikamaru chided Ino again, who just rolled her eyes in response.

"No no, it's quite alright Shikamaru. I admit, I have been a little bit studious this past few weeks." Hinata said reassuringly to Shikamaru.

"Wow, I can't believe you're already taking your final exams though. You learned it all within less than 3 years. That's really amazing." Ino said.

"Yeah, that is pretty impressive. I wouldn't be able to put that much sweat into it if I were in your place," Shikamaru said with a yawn, his nap time was nearing.

"Not everyone is born a genius, Shikamaru." Chouji added and everyone nodded in agreement at the statement.

"Well I gotta say, your new look really suits you, Hinata." Ino said motioning towards her head scarf.

A small smile formed on Hinata's lips.

"Arigatou, Ino-chan."

* * *

 _It was orange._

 _The sky was orange and a slight breeze blew over a pinkette as she sat on top of big swirly plate the same colour as the sky above her._

 _She started to lie down on the plate with both hands behind her head as it swirled, this was relaxing. As she watched the colourful puffs of clouds above her dance, she finally felt at peace._

 _One by one it came down raining on her. But one particular cloud suddenly expanded in size and spun faster and faster on its invisible axis as it neared her, becoming a ball of whirlwind._

 _Fast, bright and somewhat calming._

 _And then…_

"Sakura-Chan! I'm sorry I didn't mean to- don't hit me!"

Sakura stared up at a pair of bright blue eyes that has been with her for more than a decade now, looking at her wearily. From where she was— between both Naruto's arms, she can feel his warm breath on her face and the smell his masculine scent. Orange swirls.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled as she flipped Naruto off of her. Even though, angered, her cheeks were slightly red.

"Oof!" Naruto landed with a loud thud on her parquet floor.

Sakura loomed over him, after gathering her composure. Both hands balled up.

"You... Better have a good reason to be here right now." She said gravely.

Naruto's worried face turned into a large grin. Sakura can feel the veins in her temple ticked.

"Hee... Wait till you hear what I have to say. It's about Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said as he started to get up from where he was laying.

"What is it..?" Sakura asked as a sudden interest piqued upon hearing her sensei's name, no longer feeling angry.

The lazy-eyed, white-haired shinobi had been gone for a while now it's only natural to know about his advancements in life aside from becoming the next Hokage that is. Okay, so maybe Sakura was a little bit curious but that's only because she cares for her former sensei's well-being.

"Well... If I tell you this, you must promise me a date. It's only fair." he said, hands on his hips looking confident all of a sudden.

 _He knew…_

"Pfftt... What kind of bargain is this?" She said as she blew a strand of lose hair on her face, crossing her arms in front of her. He knew she can't handle a good gossip. Especially one regarding their former sensei.

"I overheard Kakashi talking to the baachan about it when I was on the way to the Hokage's office. But since you're uninterested, I'll be going now." Naruto said nonchalantly as he began walking towards her window with his hands now in his pocket.

Sakura shifted her weight on her other food as her eyes trailed Naruto's movement, silently contemplating on his offer.

As he walked pass her, she grabbed his arm.

"Okay, fine. But only if it's a very juicy news. If it's something stupid, the deal is off." She said and with her superhuman strength, turned Naruto around to face her. "And secondly, be a gentleman and go out through the door, please." She added, while both her hands gripped his shoulders threateningly.

* * *

"Here you go, sweet heart. And black coffee for the gentleman," said the waitress as she placed a plate with six cinnamon rolls, which had its trademark aroma, freshly baked from the oven and a cup of coffee in front of them.

"Arigatou," Hinata said as she pressed both her hands together towards the waitress.

"Hai!" She said as she turned to attend a group of newly arrived customers.

The waitress was a middle-aged woman who always had a nice warm smile on her that didn't appeared anything but genuine. She had a motherly aura, but at the same time a very laid back attitude. It was one of the reasons why Sasuke kept coming back to this particular cafe. The staff never made him feel alienated or weird. They seemed very casual and their food and beverages were acceptable, at least for him who was picky when it comes to his diet.

"Sasuke-kun, please have some cinnamon rolls." Hinata said as she handed over the plate to him.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow.

"That's not for you?"

"I ordered for the two of us," Hinata said wearily.

"I don't eat sweets," he said simply

.

"Oh..." Hinata began saying lamely. "Gomen."

Sasuke put down his cup of coffee, annoyed. There she goes again, apologising every time.

"Why are you apologising? It's not your fault I don't eat sweets." Sasuke said as he leaned towards her from across the table.

Hinata casted her eyes down on the table. With her hair tied away from her face, her cheekbones appeared bony- she lost a lot of weight he could tell. And her skin looked so ghostly with her fair complexion.

Sasuke took a bite from one of the cinnamon rolls.

Surprised by his sudden action, Hinata asked, "Ano, I thought you didn't like sweets Sasuke-kun?"

"Hmph," he said between munching. "In exchange, you have to finish the rest."

A yawn escaped her mouth suddenly. Sasuke stared at her, irritated by her response.

"And drink this up, you'll need to stay awake if you're going to study." he added as he handed her his cup of coffee.

Hinata stared at it noting that he had already drank some of its content—meaning his lips touched it.

"Take it, Hyuuga." Sasuke said impatiently, challenging her.

"W-well," Hinata began saying nervously. She never shared a drink with another boy before aside from her ex-teammates, Kiba and Shino. But that was during dire situations like when they were on a mission or something. So silently, she contemplated Sasuke's offer.

"It's not like we haven't k-"

Hinata quickly grab the hot cup of coffee and drank it before he could finish his sentence. But she gulped it down too fast, the heat burnt her tongue.

"Ouch, hot!" Hinata said as she stuck her injured tongue out, trying to wave out the heat with hands.

Looking at Sasuke, she could swear sge saw a slight tug at the corner of his mouth. He was laughing at her- at least as far of a laughter Sasuke could portray. But then again, it could only be her imagination.

"It's not funny," Hinata said, imagination or not as she grabbed a cinnamon roll and took a bite. Her cheeks, red.

Sasuke stared at her. He had to admit, Hyuuga Hinata is a strange girl indeed.

"Can I see what you need to cover for the exams?" Sasuke asked changing the subject while Hinata was still under her dark cloud.

His sudden politeness caught her off guard. But nevertheless, Hinata grabbed one of her books she brought with her and handed it over to him.

After they ate a heavier meal- which Sasuke ordered for both of them and told her to finish it, they spent all night at the cafe studying. Which mostly consist of Sasuke asking her questions out of her books and her having to explain to him several biological process of the human body. It was awkward at first but Sasuke's cold aura and pointed stare made Hinata want to answer every question he asked correctly like how one would with an overwhelming teacher. And Sasuke, well he overwhelmed her to the point of her wanting to squeal whenever she answered his questions wrongly. He just had that look.

*Many hours later*

As Hinata exited the toilet after a short bathroom break, she walked back to their dingy corner in the cafe where they have nearly spent all evening in. To her surprise, she found Sasuke dozing of as he rested his face in one hand.

He looked exhausted.

And to be honest, Hinata too was ready to hit the sack. Her brain felt overloaded with information. But she had to admit, it has been a productive study session.

As she tried to take her opened anatomy book in front of Sasuke, careful as to not wake him abruptly, his stump nudged against her arm. Hinata looked at him, and found that his eye was red.

No, he didn't activate his sharingan.

It was just blood shot red like any other ordinary tired eyes.

"I think we should call it a day, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said.

"Does it bother you?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"What does?" Hinata asked, confused by his question.

"This," Sasuke said as he looked at his stump.

"Of course not! Why would it?" Hinata answered, feeling astonished.

And for good measure, she took a seat next to him instead of across the table where she sat earlier.

"Tch, you just pity me," Sasuke said as he looked away.

"What, what's wrong?" Hinata said now weary of her action. Maybe she intruded his personal space.

Hinata looked at the opened page of her said anatomy book, thinking how she should continue the conversation. After all, he is Uchiha Sasuke the person who once chose revenge above all else. The person who pushed aside friendship like it was nothing but a burden. The person who was blinded by hatred so deeply that he himself got loss in oblivion, slipping away from care, support and even... love.

However, what Hinata saw in the boy sitting next to her at the moment wasn't all that. What she saw was a person who on his own is capable of moving on despite his past. A person who lived through the worst and is now paving a new path—a brighter path. Yes, it was true half the villagers were still not convinced of the Uchiha's presence in their village but slowly, people are accepting. After all, who were they to doubt some of the best shinobis to have ever exist decision?

"Sasuke-kun, there's a lot of things I feel towards you, but pity is not one of them." Hinata finally said as she looked at the back of his head, since he was still facing the other direction.

Sasuke kept quiet but she knew he was listening.

"You may not have both arms Sasuke but at least you know of your purpose in life more than ever. Not lost nor drifting through it unlike some people." Hinata said as she too slowly got lost in her own thoughts for a moment.

The silence between them continued.

Hinata started to get up and again, attempted to grab her book but Sasuke's hand closed over hers, stopping her. Hinata blushed at the sudden contact.

"What is the difference between regenerating and repairing of the tissues?" Sasuke said as he turned to look at her intensely while his hand firmly held hers in place.

Oh no, he's not letting her go just yet. Why did they have to be at a 24 hour cafe? With a small sigh, she answered the question but at least Sasuke was back to his normal self again. And so they continued their study session, burning the midnight oil.

* * *

 _So, yeah. This chapter is sorta like a bridge in the plot. The main plot line is yet to be unfold! Let me know what you guys think, yah? Please, review! And thanks to those who gave me words of encouragements :D Me love you people!_


	13. Ambush

_I'm back with another chapter quicker than expected! Enjoy guys, and thanks for the support so far, me love you people!_

* * *

The Samsara eyes has always been sacred. A secret, which no one dares speak of or more or else wish for it to exist. At least not since the war where it has brought nothing but destruction. How one man could go through all things just to achieve it in his own hands was still a wonder. But, nevertheless. It did happened. And the end result wasn't pretty.

"This is ridiculous," Sasuke huffed as again Naruto slammed him to the ground.

In a swift motion, he was back on his feet.

"It's not ridiculous teme, it's fact. And it's real." Naruto said and within nanosecond his kage bunshin appeared behind Sasuke with a silent rasengan in one palm. However, Sasuke moved a few metres away just in the nick of time, saving his shoulder from destruction.

"Tch," _This fox boy is fast._

They always sparred like this. Like death was just a game if either of them were to land a fatal hit on one another. But it's not like it never happened. Between the two boys, they bonded over sparring. It was their thing. Their stress reliever. At least for Sasuke it was since Naruto was always just up for a challenge.

Before Sasuke could built up chakra in his own palm, Naruto was right in front of him packed with a punch. He dodged it and tried to sweep him off his feet, but the blonde too evaded the attack. They were equals when it came to fighting. And it was proven since they would spar until they both fall flat on the ground.

Their spar went on for several hours until the sky turned dark as the sun sets.

"Ne, teme. When are you going to talk to Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as the two of them lay down on the grass next to each other.

"What do you mean talk? We talk." Sasuke said as he closed his eyes. The subject was beginning to give him a mild headache. And at the current moment, he want nothing else but peace and tranquillity in his mind as his body rests.

"No you don't. I can still feel the rough patches between the two of you,"

"Tch, you're so smart now aren't you?" Sasuke said as he snorted at his friend's comment.

"I'm serious, Sasuke." Naruto said and turned his head sideways to face him. "You got to admit, you really took a toll on her. And even though you said sorry, maybe now it's time to do something about it."

"Do what? Hang around her and make matters worse? She already hates me." Sasuke said deadpan. Eyes still closed.

"She doesn't hate you. She's just…" Naruto began saying as he turned his face back to the sky. "Hurt. And the fact that she's still hurt means she still cares for you."

"I don't want her to care for me." Sasuke said as he too looked at the dancing orange sky above them. "I don't want her to—"

"Love you?" Naruto cut him.

There was silence between them momentarily.

"Don't worry about that, teme. I'm still trying to win her heart aren't I?" Naruto said cheerily but Sasuke could still sense the glum behind his words.

Sasuke kept silent. He didn't know what to say. This love triangle in their team has went on for far too long. And how he just wished for it to end.

"And if I can overcome my rusty ninja years back then, winning a girl's heart should be possible right?" Naruto kept on saying even though his cheery tone was slightly faltering towards the end.

"You were a complete loser back then." Sasuke said matter-of-factly.

"Shut up, teme! Have a little heart and give me a break here!" Naruto yelled at his response and got up into a sitting position.

"But I suppose you're right. You deserve Sakura. I don't. Not after all what I did to her." Sasuke said calmly, a contrast to his brewing friend.

On that note, Naruto calmed down.

"Thanks teme, for the vote of confidence. But to be honest I don't wanna rush into things with Sakura. I want her to get over… you first. Great things take time."

Sasuke glanced at his friend who was staring out into the distance looking hopeful. He wondered how one could be so positive in life. And yet here was one idiot who became best friends with the crush of the girl of his dreams. And yet, strangely Sasuke understood his position.

Sasuke sigh. "Great things take time huh?" he muttered more to himself.

"Are you sure you don't see a future of you with Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked slowly staring at him.

"Yes." Sasuke said bluntly as he gripped Naruto's shoulder as a mean for him to sit up.

"Then you need to talk to her." Naruto said his face becoming serious.

"Again, what logic is there with this idea of yours involving me talking to a girl who is hurt by me?!" Sasuke was beginning to sound exasperated losing his calamity.

He just doesn't see how talking to Sakura who has been giving him the cold shoulder ever since the war would be of any great purpose. She's uncomfortable around him, so he'll just stay out of her way. For her sake. That's the least he could do.

"No, teme. You just don't get it. You need to talk to her because you need closure." Naruto said again with his serious face.

"… We're beginning to talk like girls." Sasuke said flatly.

"No... no. This is men talk right here." Naruto said jabbing an index finger on the palm of his other hand. "And talking about the opposite gender, is not girly."

"We're talking about feelings towards the opposite gender and not to mention making… closure." Again Sasuke replied dryly.

The both of them grunted at the same time and look to opposite sides redeeming their manhood.

"Okay, I promise I won't bring it up again if you talk to Sakura. We're comrades, Sasuke. Let's not have this weird aura between us huh?"

Sasuke was silent and the moment he glanced at his friend, Naruto was on his knees with his hands clasped together in a begging motion with his big blue eyes glistening for added effect.

"Pleeeeeeeease…." He said in a desperate voice.

"Tch, fine. As long as you get that face out of my sight." Sasuke said feeling annoyed.

* * *

"Shino-kun, this is really amazing."

"You really think so?"

"Yes. No wonder you've been busy. I can tell a lot of your effort was put into these. So, what do you call them?" Hinata said as she stared at the mesmerizing creatures that flew in a wonderful pattern in front of them.

They were sitting at a park bench. It was quiet and peaceful though, since it was a school day and there were not much children around that usually filled the park.

"Ah… well I haven't gotten around to do that," said Shino who adjusted his shades he was wearing despite the dim weather.

"Ano… I think you should call it the Purple Dragons. I read about dragons once and they seemed like fascinating creatures just like your insects here." Hinata said as she stared at the flying insects that resembled between a dragon fly and that of a beetle. "The colour is really beautiful, Shino-kun. I'm not lying."

"Purple Dragons? It sounds so… not dangerous. And thanks, even though I had no predilection of the colour outcome."

Hinata laughed at Shino's straightforward response. Of course she was kidding.

"Shino-kun, I'm just joking. You should name them to what your heart desires." Hinata said as she lightly touched Shino's shoulder.

"How about… Hinata's babies since you like purple so much?"

On that note, Hinata blushed. Purple was her favourite colour and she felt like a kid to portray her favourite colour in any way she could. Both her ex-teammates would always give her purple gifts for her birthday making her feel giddy but at the same ashamed of her childishness.

"Well, I would have no objections to that. But I got to say, it's nice seeing you again, Shino-kun."

"And I to you, Hinata. But listen, I wanted to ask you about something." Shino said still in his statue-like position.

"What is it?" Intrigued, Hinata pulled back a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Are you sure you're okay participating in the Uchiha's surgery?"

"W-what? How did you know that? It's supposed to be confidential." Hinata asked shocked by his question.

"I'm soon-to-be head clan. My father has been informing me of the Aburame clan's current activities. And as you know, we're tied to the hospital pretty closely.

"Ah, yes. Silly me." Hinata leaned back on the bench. "But what do you mean if I'm okay or not?"

"Well, forgive me for saying this Hinata, it's not that I doubt your ability or anything. But since this is the first time an arm is grown back in this method, the possibility for it to not succeed is quite high and I don't want the Uchiha to resent the surgery team, to resent you that is. It would place you in danger." Shino explained.

A small smile formed on Hinata's mouth. Ah, Shino. Always the big brother who took care of her in every single aspect.

"You have to understand that I'm not trying to offend you Hinata." Shino continued saying confusing her silence with hurt.

HInata waved his words off gently. "No. no. I'm not offended, really. Coming from you why would I think so? But you have it wrong, Shino-kun. Sasuke-kun is not that kind of person."

This earned her an arched eyebrow from the bespectacled boy.

"How do you know so?" he said as he adjusted his sunglasses again, a habit he develop when he's in his serious mode.

"Uh… well. I have been spending time with him lately," she began saying with her two index fingers slowly approaching but stopped. "And I got a chance to know him better." Hinata said glancing at Shino from the corners of her eyes while biting the inside of her cheeks. She knew where this was going, and she knew she had to lie unless… unless she could evade it.

"Why? Were you assigned a mission with him or something?"

Hinata explained to Shino how she just recently found out that Sasuke and she were childhood friends. She also told him how the both of them bonded over in the library where she was stationed to help out Ino and Sasuke just wanted to learn as much as possible from his nearly extinct clan.

"Ah… I see. Well at least I know now that he is well acquainted to you. How come you never mentioned this before?" he asked as he rubbed his chin.

"The thing is, I don't remember any of it although I do believe it's true. He described my mother correctly."

Shino smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Hinata asked as she glanced at the foreign expression on her friend's face.

"Out of all people, it's our Hyuuga Hinata that got stuck with Uchiha Sasuke." He said as he patted her back gently.

* * *

"Tell me why we're doing this again?" Sasuke asked lazily as he leaned against the bark of the tree he was currently on top of.

"Because, this has always been one of Konoha's biggest mystery." Naruto said as he peered below them, waiting for their target to arrive.

"So what? Why can't we just wait till the ceremony for him—" Sasuke begun saying but got cut off.

"He won't announce it. I've been with him long enough to know he won't reveal anything about it until… BOOM! Out of the blue the news befall us. But no. This time, I'm ahead of you, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said getting more and more determined to catch their sensei in the act.

"It's been hours…" Sasuke nudge Naruto's behind with a foot.

"Hey, watch it! I almost lost my balance there." Naruto said haughtily shooting a warning look to Sasuke. Man, was he in his serious mode.

To be honest, Sasuke too was curious of his former sensei's big secret. If it weren't for Naruto's persistent conviction on the information he overheard, he won't even be up on the same tree they've once been when they were stalking their sensei back when they were kids.

"But why today?"

"I'm going on a mission tomorrow with Hinata-chan. It's gonna take like a week or two since it's at Suna,"

That got his attention. Sasuke sat up straighter against the bark. That Hyuuga didn't even thought about telling him about going away. Not that she was obligated to. But in a way she was, after all he was her mentor and they already had a mission of their own.

"Switch." Sasuke said suddenly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Let me go with her."

"Aha…" Naruto turned his head around slowly his face forming into an all-knowing expression.

"What?" Sasuke shot him a stare.

"Now why is it do you want to take my place?" Naruto questioned him arms crossing in front of him.

"Because I've been dying to go on a mission to serve my village and all that shit." Sasuke replied monotonously not even bothering to sound genuine.

Naruto was quiet momentarily and Sasuke can see the gears in his blonde head working before he finally said.

"Tell you what, if I persuade the Baachan to switch with you, you have to talk to Sakura."

A low growl was forming in Sasuke's throat.

"So what do you say? Better be quick because she's coming in three, two, and one…" Naruto said before turning back to his vantage point.

"What?" Sasuke asked mostly to himself as at that precise moment there was a rustle on a tree and a flash of pink in front of him.

"Am I late?" Sakura said steadying herself on one branch and catching her breath as she landed in front of Sasuke. From her appearance, Sasuke could tell she rushed here all the way.

"Nah, you're actually just in time Sakura-chan. I can sense his chakra now only heading here." Naruto said not looking back at her.

"Huh, it's a wonder how you can anticipate him coming here." Sakura said as she rested her weight on her knees with her back still towards Sasuke.

Sasuke was actually holding his breath wishing he could just disappear into the bark he was leaning against. He wasn't prepared for this. It's not that he was afraid like most people towards Sakura's inhuman strength. It was just this tension between him and her made his stomach twist in a way that he just wanted to block out the sensation. He should have known that that dobe would invite her along. Of course he would! He was madly in love with her and she was after all a member of team 7. It was he, Sasuke who was stupid enough to overlook this possibility.

"He might be a genius that Kakashi-sensei but when it comes to matters of the heart he is as straight minded as any man in love."

"I got to say, I agree with you." Sakura said also peering in the direction Naruto was staring at.

"Haha, yep. I even have Sasuke here with us to join our spy team." Naruto laughed off light-heartedly.

Shit…

On that note, Sakura's shoulders stiffened and her head perked up and slowly she turned around to face him.

"Oh, Sasuke. I didn't see you right there." Sakura said in a strained voice.

"Don't worry about it." He grumbled lowly.

There was silence between them.

"Guys! He has entered zone A. Start masking your chakra. And I mean mask it well. This is Kakashi-sensei we're talking about." Suddenly Naruto whispered loudly.

Both Sasuke and Sakura moved to either side of Naruto who was crouched on a branch, doing as they were told. And together, side by side they waited silently like predators.

And just like he said, a few minutes later, they could see their former sensei and one other person, a woman with a scarf over her head that inconveniently covered her face from them walked towards their tree.

Kakashi and the woman stopped underneath them. They appeared to be talking having no idea that his three former students were directly above them watching them intently. Their conversation went on for several minutes before Kakashi suddenly grabbed the woman's hand like a true lover.

Sakura brought a hand to her cheek, blushing due to sweetness of the scene beneath her. It's real, it's real! Her former teacher has finally found someone and that thought alone sent warm waves in her heart, diffusing her discomfort of the Uchiha's presence momentarily. She was happy for her sensei. But who is that woman who was now giggling softly as Kakashi caressed her cheek with the back of his other hand. Sakura gestured at her comrades with her hand asking who the woman was.

It was impossible to have a view of the woman's face from this angle. They had to think of another alternative. Sakura instinctively glanced at Sasuke who was on Naruto's opposite side from behind him. A sudden idea formed in her head. She was surprised to see Sasuke did the exact same thing. And with a knowing nod from Sasuke, she knew that he caught on to her idea as well.

Naruto was deep in concentration when suddenly he felt a hard force from behind him, pushed him forward and downward towards the lovely couple below. But thanks to his now fast reflex, instead of crashing down, Naruto was able to evade the couple just in time and landed firmly on his feet.

"AHA!" Naruto said pointing at Kakashi with an accusing finger, he was fast to react to the sudden betrayal of his comrades above.

"What in the world?!" Kakashi said his usual half-open eyes now fully opened in shock as he had his arm over the woman shielding her from before.

"I'm sorry for this sudden interruption, Kakashi-sensei. But as a former student of yours, I am obligated to know who she is!" Naruto demanded as he now shifted his finger towards the woman's direction.

She had her head down, looking frightened. So, Naruto was still unable to look at her face. But slowly she lifted her head to face him, pulling back her scarf.

"AYAME-SAN?!" Naruto yelled, taking a step back surprised at the revelation.

"Hai, it's me. How are you Naruto-kun?" Ayame said with a pleasant smile.

"B-b-but. How could this be? You were right under my nose all these while? I mean I eat ramen almost every day!" Naruto said in sudden despair as he grab the sides of his head, still digesting the information before him.

Suddenly, a figure came down from above.

"Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now huh, Kakashi-sensei?" Saskura said as she landed next to the still bewildered Naruto, her arms crossed in front of her.

Kakashi just gave a hearty laugh which stopped as soon as Sasuke landed next to him.

"You too?" Kakashi asked in surprised before he continued laughing lightly. "Okay, why does this seem like déjà vu?"

"Because it happened before only with a different wo—" Sasuke began answering but was stopped by Kakashi who suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth.

"W-what was it Uchiha-san?" Ayame asked politely.

"Nothing, Ayame. Sasuke here is just confused that's all."

"Ayame-san, I'm so happy for you!" Sakura suddenly squealed as she walked over towards Ayame.

Relieved by the sudden change in subject, Kakashi gave Sasuke a deep glare, warning him to keep his mouth shut.

"May I know what exactly did you guys found out about me and Ayame?" Kakashi said after releasing Sasuke's face.

"THAT YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED." Naruto said loudly, still in his disbelief mode.

"Don't mind him, Kakashi-sensei. He has been plotting this ambush for a while now and he's just frustrated that the mystery woman was Ayame-san all along. It's gonna take him some time to process this." Sakura explained simply to the shocked couple.

"But, is it true though?" It was Sasuke's turn to speak.

The couple looked at them astonishingly before facing each other with a knowing look.

"Well, I guess the secret really is out. Haha, yes I guess that's about right." Finally Kakashi said with one hand scratching the back of his head.

"Oh. My. God!" Sakura was the first to react jumping lightly on the balls of her feet. "I'm so happy for the both of you!"

"Oh man, Kakashi-sensei. You still managed to mess with my head and here I thought I finally got the upper hand." Naruto said with sagged shoulders.

Everyone laughed at his reaction and in that time Sasuke too smirked at the silliness of his best friend and caught a glanced at Sakura who in mid-laughter blushed slightly upon engaging eye contact with him before she turned to look the other way. It was a brief moment but nevertheless it was a moment when all their walls were down. It was just him, Sasuke and her, Sakura. Two people.

So, they were at an awkward stage. At least he now knew he had a chance to repair the damage that he had done to their friendship. The idiot was right in the end.

* * *

 _Hey there, one by one my midterm exam dates are popping up. So I told myself, I have to finish at least one more chapter before I go to waaaar! I would love to know your thoughts on the story so far. Haha, and guess which filler episode I sort of reenact in this chapter. See ya in the next chapter!_


	14. Your Skin

_Okay, so here's a quick warning. I kinda suck at writing action scenes and uh... ghost!_

 _Enjoy :)_

* * *

The sky was white and the air was light as it turns into delicate flakes that each carry their own individual pattern. Snowflakes are not so different than us, humans. Everyone is built unique, and everyone has their own tale to tell before they disappear from the surface of the earth like melted snowflakes. The strong gush of wind that blew confirmed that winter was finally here.

Sasuke walked towards the blue-haired girl who was waiting in front of the Konoha gates. She had her back to him so she didn't notice him approaching her until he was near enough for her to hear his deliberate footsteps causing her to turn around.

"Ohayou Na-" she started her greeting before her brain registered who was before her. "S-sasuke-kun?" she ended up saying instead, her face was clearly surprised.

"Ohayou,"

Hinata's expression slowly turned into a slightly crestfallen one as her brows furrowed deeply. Sasuke laughed inwardly on how transparent her feelings were towards other people.

"Disappointed?" he asked as he simply walked passed her and later kneeled down to place his backpack down on the ground. There was something in his backpack that was poking him, he needed to rearrange it.

"Ano… Sasuke-kun. Are you going on a mission too?"

"Yes," Sasuke said, still rearranging his stuff.

He wasn't usually this unorganized. But last night after confronting Kakashi of his secret engagement, they all went out for a drink. At least the men did, since both Ayame and Sakura had things to do. Ayame with her wedding preparations which will be held sometime after the inauguration of the sixth Hokage. While Sakura had to go back to the hospital as usual to resume her duty.

They had a couple of drinks talking about how Ayame and him came to be. Sasuke had to admit, that it was sort of nice catching up with his former sensei. However, what happened later that night when Kakashi had a little too much to drink was the problem. This is because it left both Naruto and him to the task of dragging a drunk soon-to-be Hokage back to his apartment and it wasn't good for the public eyes to see Kakashi in that particular condition. So, they had to be discrete it bringing him back to his home. It was a tedious job and hence, the journey wasn't pleasant. Therefore, when Sasuke got home later that night, he straight away went to bed without packing for the next day.

"Are you coming with Naruto-kun and me to Suna?" Hinata asked, her head slightly tilted in his direction.

"No,"

"Oh…" she started to say and Sasuke could sense her relieved sigh before saying,

"I'm replacing him as your partner to Suna."

"Really?!"

"Yes, and I hate to burst your bubble but Naruto was tasked to do something else, so here we are, " Sasuke said as he stood up, backpack properly arranged and turned to face her whilst looking her up and down. "That's not such a smart choice of clothing." he simply said.

Automatically, Hinata's hands went over her body cautiously shielding it from Sasuke's view.

"It's freaking snowing and that's all you have on?" he continued saying, clearly annoyed.

Hinata was wearing just a lavender sleeveless jacket-like tunic with long socks that ended just beneath her small black shorts. Her hair was down, her usual style. And unlike her, Sasuke had on a thick brown poncho over his usual dark clothing. He also had his usual scarf- which he had several others of the same purple colour, wrapped around his head.

Feeling offended, she took a deep breath and adjusted the straps of her own backpack before walking straight ahead. She didn't need to justify her choice of apparel to him.

It's not that Sasuke was bothered by her contradicting choice of clothing over the freezing weather—well to be frank, he actually was, as Sasuke was a practical man. But on the other hand, it clearly showed that Hinata was trying a bit too hard 'dressing up' for her original mission partner. And that thought alone, annoyed him. It was pathetic.

"You don't need to expose so much skin just to get a man's attention you know," he said as he fell into step with her.

Hinata puffed out angrily to the Uchiha's still ongoing rant, her brows furrowed deeply, as she shot him a pointed stare. She walked faster, distancing herself from him again.

They travelled like that, Hinata ahead of Sasuke who followed from a short distance behind her for several hours. Suna was rather far, it was going to take them two to three days depending on the weather.

Eventually, they found a cave to settle for the night. Snow and darkness was not a good combination. However before they settled in, they went about to look for woods to build a fire. As they piled up the woods Sasuke went out of the cave to take a quick leak. When he came back, he was surprised to see that a fire was already burning in the center of the cave, enlightening the previously dark cave.

"How did you do that?" he asked Hinata as he was just about to Katon it.

"The fire?" she asked back nonchalantly, obviously still peeved at him.

"Yes." he said curtly.

And at that precise time, Hinata gave out a small squeak- she sneezed. And a small puff of smoke came out of her mouth.

Sasuke looked at her incredulously, an eyebrow arched.

"I didn't know you mastered a fire element." he commented.

"I didn't master it, I was born with it. It's my chakra affinity." she said after wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

Hinata then started preparing her sleeping bag. As she was doing so, something heavy covered her a whole. Peeking above it as she pushed it off her she found that it was Sasuke who had placed his poncho over her.

"You better wear it if you don't want to travel sickly tomorrow," Sasuke as he walked towards his bag.

"Arigatou, but I think I'm fine without it." she said as she took it off her.

Stubbornly polite. Sasuke thought to herself.

"You can hold a grudge."

Hinata looked up to him at his comment.

"Why do you wear like that anyways?"

"Gomen, but I don't think I need to explain myself to you." she said as she slowly folded the poncho and later walking towards him. "Here," she said as she handed him back his apparel.

Sasuke ignored her as he took out his sleeping bag preparing his side of the fire.

"I'll put it here then," she continued talking to herself as she placed the poncho next to him on the ground.

After they ate their dinner silently, they slept.

* * *

Later that night, Hinata woke up. She had to train her byakugan. It was routine for her as it was the best time for her to practice her eyes with through the limitations the darkness had to offer.

Walking a few hundred metres away from the cave, she nestled herself comfortably on a boulder somewhere in the forest.

Sitting cross-legged, she did a short meditation before activating her byakugan. Zooming in and out of her vision, she scrutinized everything from the hundreds of trees that lay in every position to the individual snowflakes that fall from above. As she tried to increase her vision magnification, it blurred. Concentrating harder, it still blurred.

To be honest, Hinata wasn't really concentrating enough. Her mind was elsewhere. It was still lingering on Sasuke's words earlier that day.

" _You don't need to expose so much skin just to get a man's attention you know,"_

It wasn't that she purposely tried to show off her body to anyone. But his words stung her hard. All she did was a little wardrobe make over. A change of her usual loose clothes to something more… appealing.

And by looking at her other close circle of female friends she was inspired somehow. At least those who had men waiting in line for them. Hinata had to admit, she has reached that state in life. The stage where she starts trying to look for her other half.

Hinata shivered. Now that she think of it, her attire do lack purpose in this weather.

Rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself, she took a deep breath before activating her byakugan once again. However, an instant shadow appeared before her eyes.

* * *

Sasuke has always been a light sleeper. Living on his own has made him develop that habit. He realised the fact that in the midst of the night, Hinata had woken up and went outside. He figured that maybe she had to use the 'bathroom'.

But the strange thing was that she was gone for quite some time. He knows this because Sasuke just happened to have a hard time falling back asleep. Intuition told him to check up on her. But he knew the Hyuuga was still pissed at him. No need to add fuel to fire.

Speaking of which, Sasuke was actually quite surprised the timid Hyuuga held a fire Chakra affinity. Just like him. However, it didn't fit her though. Sasuke wondered how much deeper is he able to probe into this pale-eyed girl's story. As of now, he has a feeling he was only seeing the surface.

Putting on his poncho that the stubborn Hyuuga returned earlier, Sasuke stepped outside the cave. He looked to the ground before him, and saw faint footsteps left in the snow-covered ground.

At first he walked, following the footsteps, but as the trail stopped abruptly, Sasuke jumped onto the tree branches above him and continued his path. The Hyuuga went far, was she leaving him behind?

Sasuke shook out the thought just as fast as it popped into his head. She couldn't have, her things were still in the cave. She won't survive the cold just like that, at least not in her skimpy attire. But then again, why was she so far away from their camp, then?

Later on, Sasuke stopped at a clearance. There were more of her footsteps here. He followed them until it stopped just before a big boulder. Sasuke glanced up before jumping onto it. No sign of her.

Being on the boulder gave him better view to the surrounding. As he looked around, he found that not far from the boulder, there was a trail in the snow. Instead of that of a footstep, it appeared deeper and bigger. As if someone was dragged through it.

Activating his Sharingan, Sasuke followed the trail. Something was off.

Suddenly, he heard something or rather someone not far from him. It was faint, but he heard it. As he walked slowly towards the sound, he could sense the Hyuuga's Chakra.

There was a repeated thud.

Knowing that he was getting close, his senses heightened.

"S-sas… ke—" someone called out to him.

Looking up, Sasuke was shocked to see the Hyuuga pinned to the tree above him. She was dangling, but had both hands to her throat.

Without wasting time, Sasuke concentrated some Chakra on the soles of his feet and ran up the tree. As he neared her, he could see that an invisible force was choking her against the tree, thus pinning her there.

He grabbed her, trying to pull her away, but failed as she whimpered in pain. It was as if she was glued there. A sudden idea popped into his head. Sasuke grabbed her legs, supporting her weight and told her to concentrate some Chakra on her back and feet. Therefore, she won't need to dangle while being choked at the same time.

She did as she was told as her wild frantic eyes looked to him and to whatever it was in front of her back and forth.

"It's a spirit, isn't it?" Sasuke asked.

* * *

Hinata was suffocating. The entity that was crushing her windpipe was surprisingly strong. It was the fact that it caught her off guard resulted in her current condition. She could vaguely see it, but she can sure feel it. And, hear it.

"My, my… an Uchiha came for you." the spirit said in an alarming raspy voice as it stopped knocking her head onto a tree.

This allowed Hinata some breath to call out to the dark haired boy below. And not later than that, he was there with her, his face ever blank despite her illogical condition.

He held her as she matched her weight perpendicular to the earth's gravity, relieving some of her torture.

After Sasuke asked whether it was a spirit that held her down did she knew, that Sasuke's help was limited. He can't see, hear nor feel it. In short, he can't stop it. The dead was a blind spot even for the Uchiha.

She could, however.

Knowing that she had to act fast before the spirit actually manages to break her neck, Hinata activated her rinne-byakugan. And it came easier than expected.

And there, finally she was able to see the spirit clearly.

"Give me, your body!" it screeched before laughing hysterically, piercing Hinata's ears painfully.

Placing a palm on the spirit's what seemed-to-be chest cavity, Hinata sent it flying off with a gush of wind.

Finally, Hinata was able to take in deep breaths of air. Without wasting time, she made a series of hand signals to activate her twin lion fists. But as the file blazed throughout her forearm, she noticed that the flame wasn't the usual blue colour, but black.

Trusting her gut instinct, Hinata leaped off the tree and headed towards the spirit that was now flying around randomly around the forest, taunting her.

"Catch me, catch me if you can…!" It shrieked again popping right in front of her face before disappearing again.

"Catch me before I catch you," it whispered harshly in Hinata's ear before again, it disappeared.

The game was on. Hinata knew she had to catch it first. And… well since it's already dead, she hasn't really thought about that part yet. But having that 'thing' in her hands will at least prevent anymore further attacks. She was just relieved that the entity was only aiming her and that it wasn't harming Sasuke.

She was its sole focus.

Therefore, focusing her vision, she was able to detect the spirit leaping off from tree to tree. It was fast. But a she observed the spirit's movement, she found that it wasn't that random, it had momentum, a pattern. Doubling her speed, she pursued it, pushing herself off the snowy-ground.

Hinata managed to intercept it at one point, piercing one of her lion fist straight through its body. The spirit howled in pain. But then as fast as light, smacked the side of Hinata's head causing her to hit a nearby tree.

Although in pain by the sudden force, Hinata was able to land on her feet but just barely as her body contacted the tree. However, right at that moment she was pushed back on the tree and then downwards, as the spirit grazed her against the bark of the tree. Hinata winced in pain as splinter after splinter entered her skin.

"Pretty girl, so sad. But I want you dead more than pretty." The spirit said before laughing maniacally.

Just before she crashed to the ground, Hinata flipped over so that she was on top of the entity. They crashed down on the snow, her knees hurt as she crushed the spirit with them on the snow.

"Go to hell." Hinata said softly before she manifested black flames that blew like wildfire from her palms onto the entity.

She can hear it screaming in pain. A noise that was so surreal, Hinata knew she would remember it for quite some time before finally as if burnt into ashes the spirit was gone.

Hinata was panting on her hands and knees now that the spirit was gone. The snow beneath her blackened and felt hot despite the snow, she was sweating.

A pair of feet suddenly appeared in front of her. Looking up, she saw a hand extending out towards her. It was him.

"Get up." Sasuke commanded.

* * *

Back in the cave, Hinata staggered towards the fire and sat down in front of it as the heat welcomed her. She hasn't remove any of the splinters in her skin. At least the cold weather helped her in that sense though, numbing the pain.

Sasuke looked at her, but she was just staring into the burning fire before her. The event that just occurred left the atmosphere darker than the night itself.

"You should heal yourself," Sasuke said as he moved to his side of the fire. Comforting people, is just not his forte.

Hinata got up and walked towards her bag, taking out her medi-pack. She laid down a cloth on the ground before gently placing a pair of tweezers and scissors, some gauze, bandages and a small bottle of alcohol. It's better to heal simple cuts the manual way to preserve chakra.

Sasuke who was warming up by the fire glanced at the Hyuuga who had her back to him. He could see she was struggling with the splints that were on her back. She was pulling down her collar with one hand and held the tweezer with the other. He didn't know why, but the sight of her sad attempt on pulling out her splints bothered him.

"Give it to me," he said as he stood behind her.

"W-what?" the Hyuuga asked back dumbfoundedly.

"The tweezers," Sasuke said with a heavy sigh and sat behind her. He swiftly took it from her hand.

"W-wait, what are you doing?" Hinata stuttered as Sasuke held her shoulder to move it in the direction of the light before he meticulously began pulling the splinters starting from the back of her arms.

"This is why you shouldn't wear sleeveless top," he said as he pulled out one particularly fine splinter.

"Hai," she replied in a small voice.

Sasuke knew it wasn't his place to tell her off. But he just felt like he needed to. He wasn't one to care of others, but somehow he wanted the Hyuuga to know his thoughts even though he knew she would be annoyed. But at least, the message would get through.

It took him a while to remove the splinters on her arms but eventually, he managed. He allocated all the splinters on the piece of cloth she put down earlier.

"Take it off," he said putting down the tweezer momentarily.

"W-what?" Hinata stammered as her back stiffened, surprised of his instruction.

"Your top. There's more on your back."

"You want me to u-undress in front of you?" she said her voice becoming shriller.

"Look, it's just your back. I won't touch elsewhere. We still have a long way to Suna. This is the only way to travel there fit, Hyuuga." Sasuke explained monotonously.

He didn't get why she was so shy. The cave was so dim he barely can see her skin. And she had her back against the fire, so her front would be covered by the shadow it emitted. It's not like he's going to do anything to her.

After a moment of contemplating her options, Hinata wiped her forehead. The Hyuuga is thinking hard. And in the end she slowly unzipped her tunic.

"C-can you close your eyes for a while?" she said softly, almost a whisper.

Sasuke turned his back on her as she removed her top.

"O-okay. I'm ready." She said.

Sasuke faced her back again but there was a bandage wrapped around her thoracic part, a style most kunoichi usually do to cover and support their chest. Hinata had pulled her hair to one side and brought it in front away from her back. She was also covering her front by hugging her tunic tightly against her chest, clearly she was embarrassed.

"I'm going to need to remove your bandages." Sasuke said impassively.

Hinata nodded.

And so with the scissors he cut them off her back, revealing a canvas of smooth milky skin to him. Hinata shivered slightly. She has nice skin, he'd give her that.

"Ano… is it… is it bad?" Hinata asked softy.

Sasuke hadn't realised he was staring at her back for some time before she spoke.

"They're deep, so it's going to take some time." He said casually.

* * *

Afterwards, Sasuke had successfully removed all the splinters out her skin in silence, and afterwards washed her skin with alcohol which she whimpered as it stung upon contact with her multiple cuts. The alcohol also helped clean the black soot that covered her forearms. The origin of the black soot was one of the hundreds of things that needed to be discussed about but the Hyuuga still appeared to be phased out from what just happened to her. Therefore, Sasuke was going to give her some time to mentally recover.

Okay, maybe not that much.

"What were you fighting with?" he asked.

Hinata's head snapped up upon hearing his question as she was sitting in front of the fire again, staring aimlessly into it.

"It was one of those spirits. But it was stronger." She said, hugging her knees tighter.

"Did it had a name?"

"N-no. It looked like a woman, but I think it was a man." She explained.

Orochimaru's face popped up in Sasuke's mind.

Wrapping herself tighter in Sasuke's poncho—which she had eventually worn after she cleaned herself up, she said "It wanted my body. It wanted to live."

Again, this was beginning to sound too much like Orochimaru. Sasuke wondered if that creep was dead.

Sasuke was about to ask her more but she suddenly began to say, "Sasuke-kun, ano…" she looked at him briefly before her gaze fell.

"Is it okay if I sleep next to you tonight?"

That was unexpected. Not after their awkward moment where he had to clean her bare back earlier. It was Sasuke's turn to feel surprised.

"I won't be too close, I promise." She added confusing his brief silence with hesitance.

"Go ahead," he simply said.

He could see her being grateful of his answer in the way her pale eyes glinted before she stood up to drag her sleeping bag on the opposite side of the fire to be next to his.

"Arigatou, Sasuke-kun." Hinata said as she crawled into her sleeping bag. "For helping me tend my injuries earlier." She added with a small smile.

"Hn,"

"Oyasuminasai."

He guessed he had to wait till tomorrow to properly discussed about the abnormal event that just took place then.

* * *

 _Spirit, entity, ghost... I'm sorry, but Halloween inspired me to write a spooky chap! Please please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts!_

 _And those who has reviewed, thanks a lot! Your opinions and CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms are taken into consideration. They help me notice my flaws. But being a SasuHina shipper isn't a flaw! So buzz off, if you ain't shipping them!_


	15. One Bed

" _I found love where it wasn't supposed to be,_

 _Right in front of me,_

 _Talk some sense to me."—_

' _I found' by Amber Run_

* * *

It was a small town. Peaceful enough for children to run about the streets just like in Konoha but bustling enough that the art of dodging a throng of people is needed just to walk in the streets.

It was late noon when they got there. The first thing that came to Sasuke's mind was food, his stomach was already rumbling a few hours before they even reached the town. He finally found a quiet restaurant in one narrow street.

"Sasuke-kun, you go ahead. I'm going to look around first," Hinata spoke.

With a simple nod from Sasuke, she exited the narrow street and into the crowd.

"Hmph," Sasuke muttered to himself. Wasn't she hungry in this cold weather? At this rate, he'll never be able to make her gain weight.

Sasuke entered the restaurant and sat down at an isolated table at the back. He ordered his food before taking out a journal from his bagpack. He took out the pencil he kept between the pages and began studying his notes. Sasuke usually remembered everything he read by heart and not to mention his Sharingan was an added bonus to help him capture everything he read into eternal memories

But still, he likes the idea of writing and laying out all the collected information on paper. It was easier to connect the dots and basically see the whole picture that way. He read his notes in silence, revising page by page intently.

If it was true that Hinata somehow have the rinne-byakugan in her eyes, it meant that it was passed on in her lineage. She, would surely know if anyone had done anything to her let alone manipulated her eyes. That only leaves one other explanation; genetics.

Does every Hyuuga clan member has the same possibility as her? Perhaps, but it would be unlikely. If it were the traditional Hyuuga occurrence, they would have made use of the power. After all, the Hyuuga clan was one of the most loyal clans of the Hidden Leaf Village.

And not to mention that Hinata is of the main branch, if she weren't then there's a possibility that it was a power the main branch kept as a secret for whatever reason.

And as far as history can tell, Sasuke didn't come across any text saying that a Hyuuga would be involved with the rinnegan. The stone tablet he found under the Naka Shrine didn't mention how the black rinnegan even came to be. So there was already a missing piece of the puzzle from the beginning.

This is getting ridiculous, the Hyuuga girl must have a reason, a logical explanation to have attain said eyes. Maybe she's hiding something. Or perhaps she wasn't aware that she somehow got the eyes. He was going to have to search her mind somehow. But how?

"Can I sit here?" a soft voice asked, snapping him out of his thought.

He looked up to see Hinata gently pulling the chair back and took a sit across from him with a paper bag on her lap.

"Sasuke-kun, I'd like to apologise for my brash behaviour before this." She said calculatedly, as she looked into his eyes but only briefly before she lowered her pale eyes to the table before them. "You were right, it was silly of me to wear such clothing that doesn't suit the weather." She looked up to meet his gaze again after finishing her sentence.

"Hn. So you've learnt your lesson then?" he asked.

"Y-yes." She blushed slightly. "And here, this is your poncho. I dusted it off as best as I can. If you l-like, I'll have it clean properly once we reach Suna." She said as she handed the paper bag to him.

Sasuke just grabbed the paper bag without looking at her and told her to order her food. He continued analysing his notes until Hinata's food arrive.

"Your food is getting cold, Sasuke-kun." Hinata said, as a hint to invite him to eat with her.

"I like it cold." He said, still skimming his notes, ignoring her vague invitation to eat.

Suddenly a hand slapped down on the page he was reading. His eyes trailed from the slim fingers that covered his writings to the owner of the hand's face.

"What?" Sasuke asked, deadpanned. He hated it when his concentration is disturbed.

"C-can we eat together?" Hinata stuttered as her face began changing into a shade of red.

 _Hmm… feeling confident are we?_

* * *

"Ano... Is this the only room?" Hinata asked as she peeked after Sasuke who entered a hotel room.

It was a room for single person. A room big enough to fit a bed for one person. And there were two of them. Hinata mentally calculated how the night would go with the room before her.

"It's the peak of winter, so all the rooms are booked." he replied while tossing his backpack to one corner before plopping himself on the bed.

"Oh..." She replied lamely as she still stood by the open door.

Sasuke who was laying on the bed lifted his head to look at her.

"Don't worry Hyuuga, I won't bite," he joked dryly.

Hinata was quiet.

"Come on, close the damn door already. It's freezing." he said annoyed at her no response before leaning back on the mattress.

Surprised by his rudeness, she did as she was told. She put her bag next to Sasuke's and sat on the floor, hugging her knees since there weren't much furniture in the room aside from a bed, a cupboard and a dingy looking dresser, albeit it wasn't the fanciest of a hotel they were staying in. They were on a mission after all.

And Hinata didn't mind. She never needed such luxury despite her prestige lineage.

People always assumed that the Hyuugas were pompous and accept nothing of less. The statement is half true though, because the Hyuugas do not accept anything less when it comes to combat skills and... ethics. But other than that, it was taught generations after generations to make do with what you have. And... Be grateful. Too bad what they had was a lot and made their morality seem vague to outsiders.

Hinata looked at Sasuke who was lying completely still on the bed while his feet were still planted on the floor. He had his arm over his eyes. He looked tired, she thought.

Since days are short these days, it was already dark when they reached the hotel.

"Hyuuga, can you come here for a while?" He suddenly called out to her, breaking her chain of thoughts.

Although bewildered, she got up and walked over to him. He still had his arm over his eyes, shielding half his face.

"Y-yes, Sasuke-kun? "

He said nothing, so Hinata waited a little bit in front of him.

"Ano... " Hinata tried again, the silence was overwhelming her.

"Tell me Hyuuga, are you afraid of me?" he suddenly said.

Hinata looked at his ever still body.

"Afraid?" she asked, confused.

It seemed like a fraction of a second later that Hinata realised that she was being pinned underneath the Uchiha. He pulled her on to the bed by her wrist so quickly her brain wasn't able to register it. It was a simple pull and flip and yet, it felt like a whirlwind to her.

And now, she was gazing into his face, inches away from hers.

His pale face.

His tired eyes.

His breath that smelled like mint.

Reflex made her pushed lightly against his chest, trying to increase the little space she had between their bodies.

"S-sasuke?" Hinata squeaked.

Why was he on top of her?

Why was he looking at her like that?

And… why is her heart beating so maddeningly?

"Answer me," he said so lowly it was almost a whisper his eyes gazing into hers so intently she can't help but to look into them.

"M-maybe a little," she said slowly, matching his tone.

"But I'm not the one attracting deadly spirits towards me."

"A-are you afraid of me then?"

"I should be. But I'm not,"

"Oh, do you want to go on separate ways?"

"Tch, that is so typical of you."

"Huh?"

"Always thinking about what's best for others. Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"Ano…" Hinata looked into each of his eyes, trying to understand his meaning of words.

Hyuuga Hinata was usually good at reading people. Especially through their eyes. It was her special talent. Reading body languages, the little movement people make with their eyes and fingers which indicated a lot of things to her. It was like a direct message to her whenever she interacts with them. Hyuuga Hinata was good at detecting lies as well.

However, when it came to this ex-avenger who was currently on top of her, she could decipher nothing. Guess, yes she could guess. But to know, it seems like she was looking into a deep black ocean, where the surface reflects the world, but not revealing its depth nor contents.

Uchiha Sasuke was a mystery. A mystery that is starting to plague her.

Hinata stared at his features, she knew they were too close for two people of the opposite gender should be. It was even rational for her to feel freaked out and embarrassed in their current position. After all, they were in a hotel room. And he was… a man.

But somehow, their close proximity didn't affect her that way. She trusted that he wouldn't do such a thing. As she looked at his handsome face up close and personal, she understood why back when they were younger, girls kept coming after him. He has a nice face. And that was that.

"Achoo!" Hinata sneezed into said handsome face.

"Gomennasai, Sasuke-kun!" Hinata apologized quickly and accidentally bumped her head into his as she began to bow, a habit she usually did after apologizing, forgetting how she was positioned at the moment.

Sasuke lifted himself off her as he flipped around and sat on the bed. He then wiped the speckled of her sneeze earlier off his face with eyes closed.

"G-gomen!" Hinata said as she too got into a sitting position feeling flustered and guilty.

"Just don't sit or sleep on the floor, Hyuuga." he said in a warning tone.

Later that night, Hinata was having trouble sleeping. She was tired and her body had every right to receive such slumber. But her mind was on autopilot. She was thinking… _a lot_.

And it wasn't just for the fact that she, Hyuuga Hinata was sleeping on the same bed as Uchiha Sasuke. If anyone back in Konoha knew of this, she would be doomed. By her father first, at least.

But he was persistent saying that the floor would be too cold for her and if she thought he was a gentleman to take the floor she was straight up wrong. He had good arguments too aside from that. And she lost. So here she was… sleeping next to the ex-avenger.

At least it was nice enough of him to let her put several barriers between them—a pillow. He also made sure to clear up the fact that he wouldn't try to do anything indecent to her so she should just stop being so wary of him.

It turns out that was the reason for his random behavior earlier that evening when he flipped her over the bed. He wanted her to know that close proximity between them won't stimulate anything in him… towards her.

She was relieved at first.

But now she was feeling kinda miffed.

What did he mean by that?

Does this mean she wasn't attractive enough?

But why would she care anyways, this was good. It should be.

Aside from that, she could still remember the memories of the spirits that has been haunting her. Usually her hair would be disturbed right about now or the small tingling sensation she would feel on her arms and soles of her feet, but somehow she was untouched that night. But it made her wary. Anytime now… it could start. The light hauntings that had costed her most of her sleep.

Suddenly, as she was lost in her thoughts, she heard a sob from behind her.

Hinata who had her back to Sasuke, turned her body to face him across the little pillow barrier.

He was resting. But he looked troubled in his sleep. His eyebrows were furrowed and he had small traces of tears at the corner of his eyes.

 _He's crying?_ Hinata thought to herself, surpised.

Curious, she shifted closer to him. Under the pale moonlight through the window, she could see that there were really tears down the side of his face.

Suddenly, she felt sad for him too. It was automatic, she was always one to empathize with others' pain and sorrows.

Slowly she reached out to touch his forehead which had wrinkles, with her index finger. She just wanted to smooth them out. But just before her finger could touch the area between his eyebrows, he said,

"Okasan, Otousan…" and stopped momentarily before saying, "Itachi." in a louder tone. He sounded like he was longing for them.

"Sasuke-kun," his name blurted out from her mouth as soon as she heard him. She retracted her hand.

She studied his sleeping features. There at that moment, she understood what he was going through. She herself had woken up countless of times in the middle of the night with tears streaming down her face. It wasn't easy to get over the death of a loved one.

 _Neji-sama…_

And he lost his family along with his whole clan.

Killed by his very own brother.

To witness such tragedy at such a young age. It was one of the reasons she never dared to approach him ever since their academy days. He looked so reserved. So caged. She didn't want to intrude his space. His problems. His grieve.

After all, she wasn't the approaching type after all.

But now, more than ever her finger twitched, wanting to touch his furrowed brows. She wanted to take his problems away at least for the time being. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to approach.

This time.

As her fingers touched his forehead, she slowly spread them laterally, straightening his brows. Taking away his pain. She began to feel fascinated by her own action.

And just like that, Uchiha Sasuke was burying his face in the crook of her neck. His hair brushing against her cheek making her able to smell it, minty-fresh like his breath. The fact that again, he moved so fast when he flipped over her, his hand tucked under the pillow her head was resting on made her heart skipped a beat. His soft breath was tickling down her neck. She fidgeted slightly under him, trying to move her legs, but they too were pinned by one of his legs. Her arms were the only possible part of her body that she can move freely. But they were sprawled on the bed, not touching him.

It was all Hinata could do to hold down a scream as his chest pressed down against hers.

Apparently, he was still asleep.

And she dared not move.

The pillow barrier long forgotten as it was removed from its original location between them by Sasuke's unintentional movements.

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes as rays of sunlight fell on his lids. He hated sleeping when it's bright. As he opened them, he was surprised to see a pair of plump lips facing him.

As his eyes trailed upwards to the owner's face, he was surprised to see it was the Hyuuga girl. Her long dark lashes a contrast to her porcelain skin. He can't help but stare at her face for a while. The sunlight through the window made her blue tresses somehow sparkled.

 _Sparkled? ...What._ Sasuke thought to himself.

She's… beautiful, he'd give her that. But why in the world is she right in front of his face?! He was not one who so easily shares his personal space let alone let anyone touch him.

Even though alarmed, he was calm enough to compose himself from making any brash movements. He looked at his arm, it was wrapped over her chest just beneath her… oh, no. Okay… so maybe he's the one touching her. _But how did it came to be like this in the first place?_

Sasuke slowly lifted his arm off her, and his leg—which was wrapped around hers too. And lastly, lifted his head off her right arm. Hinata stirred at the sudden chill followed by his absence. The morning winter air was cold. Sasuke watched as she simply pulled the blanket over her as she turned to the other side.

Sasuke pushed his hair back as he tried to recall what had happened last night.

 _What happened?_

* * *

 _Sasuke, you fooled. You molested a girl in your sleep didn't you?_

 _Haha, sorry for being absent for a while now. Midterms is slowly coming to an end though. Ugh._

 _Hope you guys like the chapter, review please!_

 _And once again, thanks for all your support and reviews, honestly I'm inspired by them :')_


	16. Noticing

_I know... I was on hiatus for far too long! I'm sorry._

 _But I promise, this is one juicy chapter. Enjoy :)_

* * *

It was hard not to look. He tried many times, including focusing on the freezing environment around him but to no avail, his eyes betrayed him again and again as they would focus on the one thing he can't stop himself from looking at.

It was the bluenette walking in front of him. It was her fault he was now behaving strangely. He blamed her for it. For all of it.

And there she was walking without knowing. Swaying her hips from side to side. It was a wonder how in her awkwardness she was somehow graceful in her movements. And Sasuke could bet with his own eyes that she, has no clue she has that effect on people.

"S-sasuke-kun, is something wrong?" suddenly she asked as she turned to face him.

"Why do you ask?" grunting, he replied brusquely as he was caught off guard during his intense staring session of her. He wasn't actually aware that she was looking at him as he was deep in his own thoughts. And again, it was her he blamed for his lack of concentration.

"Your Sharingan is activated, and erm… so I thought maybe there was…" she began saying as her eyes slowly casted downwards towards the snowy path they were on. "…something." She ended lamely.

 _What?!_ She was right, Sasuke himself wasn't aware that his one Sharingan was active. Damn it, lately he kept doing it subconsciously. He had to be more careful from now on. At least, whenever he was around her that is.

"It's nothing," he said in a tone that said to leave the matter alone.

And she caught on to his note as she simply nodded her head and continued walking ahead of him as they were since the beginning of their trip.

The sway of her hips.

 _Knock it off!_ He grunted but a little bit too loudly. And again, the Hyuuga looked at him but quickly turned back around upon eye contact like a child being scolded.

Before she knew it, the Uchiha suddenly stomped ahead of her looking angry. Not that it was a foreign expression on him, but still she couldn't help wonder why he was suddenly so… agitated. And she had a feeling it had something to do with her. A pit began to form in her stomach.

They eventually reached an area with cut down trees scattered around. It looked like a place where woodsmen would come to collect timber for firewood perhaps. The dark haired boy suddenly stopped walking. Noting his abrupt pause in movement, Hinata did the same, standing a few feet behind him.

"Ano…" Hinata began to say after a while, rubbing both her gloved hands together as an attempt to warm herself.

She didn't dare ask him if there's anything wrong again, since she knew how he would respond to her question. So, instead she stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

Sasuke's head turned to his side but just slightly, that only half his face was viewable from her position. His black eye lazily trailed towards her direction.

"Hyuuga," he began saying and Hinata could have sworn she saw his cheek slightly tinted red a contrast against the white surroundings. "Did anything happened last night?"

Hinata's heart skipped a beat, alarmed by his sudden question. She too could feel her face starting to heat up.

"Between us that is…" his voice trailed off slowly.

Should she tell him? It's not like anything well…. Anything worth telling happened. So he snuggled her while having a bad dream during his sleep. Yes, that happened. But it's nothing right?

 _Right?_ Hinata thought to herself as she contemplated on how to answer his question. Her heart was gunning her to simply tell him of his unintentional behaviour last night but somehow her mind was telling her that his nightmare seemed too personal for her to blurt out. To lay it out in the open. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. She shouldn't have heard it.

Especially when it was about his family.

His dead family.

A strong gush wind blew at them, dangerously lifting several bed of snow around them.

"Sasuke-kun, maybe we should keep going, it feels like a snow storm can come at any moment now," Hinata said gently hoping that she could reason herself away from answering his question.

But she was wrong. She underestimated the Uchiha, because the Uchiha always get the answer of his interest. Always. So as she tried to walk pass him, he gripped her arm, his long fingers icily wrapped around her and turned her towards him.

And again, since he did it rather quickly her face slammed into his chest. She was beginning to think the Uchiha just doesn't have a gentler approach when it comes to her. She staggered backward slightly, but his hand were still around her arm.

"Did anything happened between us?" He asked, irritated of her for not answering his question earlier. His eyes piercing her porcelain face.

"Well?" Sasuke asked and leaned down so close to her that his puffs of white breath blew over her face.

The Hyuuga girl just blinked owlishly at him, her white orbs looking innocent but at the same time quivering under his intense glare. Sasuke was growing impatient of her. He was done waiting.

That morning before they left the small village, Sasuke tried to wake the Hyuuga up as she was sleeping in. They had a schedule to follow if they were to reach the next town before sundown. But the Hyuuga refused to wake up as Sasuke poked her. After several more light attempts, he looked at her sleep-deprived face once more before letting the Hyuuga have her sleep. Fine, he was going to let it slide that one time. So now, Sasuke wasn't going to give her any more favours. He will get what he wants.

And that was it.

In a smooth and quick manner, Uchiha Sasuke kissed her on the lips.

"S-sasuke-kun!" she yelled, pushing him away. "W-why do k-keep doing that?!" she asked her eyes wide opened in shocked. She could feel her ears starting to warm up.

"Because," Sasuke began saying as he flipped his bangs away from view, "You wouldn't answer my question. And it has been bothering me for…" his eyes slowly refocused on her but this time it had a distant glare to it instead, "… a while now."

Hinata clasp a hand over her lips. That was her second kiss now, gone just like her first and not to mention to the same person. The universe really had something against her. Her dreams as a girl was simple, a kiss from the person she loved but instead, here she was getting the least of her expectations, her hopes and dreams crushed and grinded under the Uchiha's palm.

"There are other ways to get answers, Sasuke-kun," she said haughtily.

"Can you just quit it, and tell me what happened,"

"Nothing happened!" Hinata said exasperatingly. What does he want from her? This was infuriating.

Sasuke looked unsatisfied with her answer.

"Y-you just had a nightmare and then put your arm over me, b-but I'm sure it was because of the cold. S-so…" there, she said it. She couldn't care less now if it was his personal thoughts or not. She was in distressed and highly embarrassed by his random action earlier.

"Oh…" he was dumbfounded by her answer she could tell. Well, he should be! She was nice enough to let him hug her like a doll just so he can resume sleeping peacefully while her heart raced and her pride snaked away by his heavy arm across her chest. "But don't take what I did to you the wrong way, Hyuuga." He said after a moment's thought. "You could have just removed it."

 _What?_ Hinata thought unbelievably to herself. Did he think she has the hots for him? _He_ was the one who kept kissing her. Did a kiss even has any meaning to the Uchiha _at all_? Or were they all just means of getting things done his way? Hinata swiped that thought away bitterly.

Hinata stared angrily at the dark-haired boy who was looking at her blankly. Why did he have to replace Naruto? Why can't it be one of her ex-teammates? Sai would have been a good companion too, she could fly half way to Suna at least on one of his bird drawings.

"How come your lips aren't chapped in this weather?" he suddenly asked as he rubbed the little material on his lips which moistened them.

Surprised, Hinata stared disbelievingly at him.

"It's lip balm," she said her tone dry.

"Oh," he simply responded.

And with that, he turned on his heels and walked ahead leaving an emotionally-strained Hyuuga behind.

* * *

"Ah, it's good to finally see you Hinata-san," said a deep and husky voice.

Upon hearing her first name casually said by the Kazekage, mismatched eyes instantly flickered towards the red-head.

"Yes, and I to you. I hope you are in good health then, Gaara-sama." Hinata said in soft voice.

His mismatched eyes shot to her. Were they acquainted?

"Uchiha-san," the Kazekage said formally, addressing him.

"Hn," he said with his arms crossed in front of him as he stared into those black rimmed eyes of the Kazekage.

He remembered him, way back in the Chuunin exam. And Sasuke knew how like him, he battled his personal demon too back then, and like him, Naruto was his light. But still, Sasuke was not going to compare himself to this _Ai_ stamped-to-forehead person. They weren't the same. Not at all.

Hinata who was standing next to him, gave him a look. Obviously, disapproving his behaviour towards the person in front of them.

"Gaara-sama, I hope our presence won't cause you too much trouble because I too, was just recently informed by the Hokage of my study arrangements.

"There is nothing to worry about, after all despite the peace between all the Shinobi villages, Konoha is still our oldest ally. Therefore, every Konohan is welcomed here,"

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Hinata said with a polite bow.

"Well then, my men will lead you to your rooms. I believe you're probably tired traveling in this harsh weather."

* * *

Later that night, Hinata was in her room, after a nice warm bath she was sitting at the study table of her temporary simple room. She took out a scroll which she borrowed from Ten Ten from her bag.

With a simple hand seal all her books materialised before her. Talk about one convenient, jutsu. One by one she arranged her books on the table.

Suddenly, there was rasp on her door. She got up to answer it.

"Dinner, let's go." Sasuke said as she opened the door.

Automatically, Hinata's eyes focused at his lips. A hand went up to cover her mouth—she was blushing furiously. No matter how she looked at it, she can't seem to erase that scene where Sasuke stole another kiss from her. And she was slightly disturbed that he was acting so casual about it. Maybe it would take her some time to recover from this second assault. As for now, she can't be with him. He was truly rubbing her the wrong way.

"Gomen Sasuke-kun, but I'll have dinner a bit later. You should go ahead," she quickly said before closing her room door.

Sasuke stopped her door from closing with his foot.

"No," he simple stated.

"Eh?"

"I said no," he said and grabbed her arm.

"S-sasuke!" she yelped out in surprise.

Why was he so persistent?

"Don't make a fuss Hyuuga, let's just go," he grimaced as Hinata was squirming under his grip.

"Y-you can't always d-do as you please, Sasuke-kun. I want to go down later, okay?" she tried to reason with him.

An amused smirk appeared on his thin lips.

"Oh really?"

Hinata nodded.

"Then why don't you say that again with more confidence huh?" he taunted her as he leaned in closer.

Oh no… not again. This has to stop. He was too near. Again. If her face was blushing before this, at the moment it felt really hot. She was deeply embarrassed of their passed incident and not to mention their current close proximity. The Uchiha is exasperating.

"S-sasuke-kun, please!" she begged. She just wanted to go back in her room and hide under her blanket for a while.

"What is it, Hyuuga?" he said in low voice as his breath brushed against her ear.

"Is there some kind of problem here?" suddenly a deep authoritative female voice echoed down the hallway.

The both of them looked up towards its direction.

"T-temari-san?" Hinata blurted out as soon as her eyes laid on the blonde kunoichi who had her hands on her hips and was staring at them intently. Okay, so maybe not at Hinata, she might as well be shooting daggers at the Uchiha from the way she was looking at him.

"Well?" Temari pressed on her question, shifting her weight on her other foot. "Is there… a problem?"

"Tch," Sasuke began flipping his bangs slightly as he turned to look at her. "Even if there was, it would be none of your concern." he said monotonously.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata whispered loudly at him. What does he thinks he's doing talking ill-manneredly to the Kazekage's right hand woman, not to mention blood-related sister?!

"Oh, is that so? But I'm afraid you're underestimating the situation here, Uchiha." Temari who seemed unfazed by the sudden dark aura the Uchiha was emitting, replied. At least Hinata could sense it and it made her feel like their current situation could become dangerous at any time.

"What." he simply stated the supposed question but instead it came out rather tauntingly.

"Sasuke-kun, please. Let's just go." Hinata finally said as she pulled on his sleeves which earned her an arched brow from the blonde before them.

"Temari-san, gomen. Sasuke-kun was just asking me to come down for dinner which I initially refused. But I think I'm ready now." Hinata said as she took a step towards Temari-san.

"Huh, I see. I could understand why you refused though. I'll meet you at the dining room then Hinata-Chan." she said simply before turning on her heels and walked away.

There was an audible growl from the Uchiha. And before Hinata could slowly walked back to her room, his voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Hinata-chan," there was an edge to his voice. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"What do you mean?" she asked as turned to look at him.

* * *

At the dining hall the Kazekage was sitting at the end of the long table with both his siblings on either side of him. Hinata sat next to the sister while the Uchiha sat next to the brother who at the current moment didn't seemed too pleased.

And it wasn't only him though. Ever since Sasuke stepped into Suna, he received more intense glare than he had back in Konoha. It made the treatment in Konoha seemed rather friendly now. Not to mention that in the leaf, he had backups in case things turn sour for him.

But right here, in the middle of the sand where the climate was cold, he had no one to back him up, except for the title he came there with- a hidden leaf Shinobi. And… her.

Sasuke looked to the bluenette who was seated opposite to him. She seemed rather at ease talking to the Kazekage about something related to charity towards the kids who was left orphaned after the war. The number increased, no doubt about that. But even after the past few years, the budget allocated for these children were still not enough. Because everyone was rebuilding, be it a home, an important bridge, let alone an entire village. Not that Sasuke was paying attention to their uninteresting conversation, but yeah, those were the details he did caught along the way.

"And what about you, Uchiha-san. What are your plans for the future?" the Kazekage suddenly asked Sasuke which knocked him off his trail of thoughts.

Sasuke took a sip of water from his glass before answering, "Everything and nothing at all,"

"Hmm…" Gaara contemplated on his disinterested answer.

"Sasuke-kun just moved back to the Uchiha compound, so I believe he still have a lot of settling down to do before anything else, Gaara-sama," said Hinata from the other side of the table.

He gave her a scowl. _Why is she answering for me?_

Hinata simply tucked back a strand of loose hair behind her ear. _Acting all innocent._ Sasuke thought to himself.

Sasuke excused himself early from dinner because he had other things to do rather than to sit idly and listen to stale conversations. It was later that night when Sasuke was laying on his bed that he heard footsteps in the corridor outside his room. His sharp hearing senses automatically began to tune in.

"It was nice talking to you, Gaara-sama. But really, you needn't need to trouble yourself to escort me back to my room," a female voice belonging to non-other than Hinata said.

"No," the male said. And there was a brief pause after that. "I don't mind, besides we are old acquaintances." He finished saying.

"Hai, oysasuminasai," Hinata replied followed by a sound of her door opening and closing.

Sasuke shifted on his bed, as he was feeling suddenly unsettled. He wondered why the Kazekage would go out of his way just to send a mere guest of his back to her room. And not to mention, just the two of them!

He flipped to his side.

 _Old acquaintances huh?_ What does that even mean?

 _Ah!_ Suddenly and idea popped into his mind after a while contemplating on the conversation he just overheard.

Making his way to the small balcony outside his window, he jumped to the one next to it and casually slid the sliding door open. He was in her room, but she was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, the door which he assumed was the toilet opened and Hinata exited with puffs of steam trailing behind her, she was dressed in only a towel to her body and one wrapped around her head.

"KYAAA! S-sasuke-kun!" she squealed as she finally realized his presence and quickly ran back inside the toilet.

Hinata breathed heavily against the safety of the toilet door. That was embarrassing. Why in the world is he in her room?! Hinata unconsciously wrapped her towel tighter around her body. She could feel her face flaming. And the fact that she was only covered by this small towel doesn't help!

But her clothes were outside, in her bag. Activating her Byakugan, she looked into her room to check if the coast was clear, that maybe the Uchiha had such decency of a gentleman to leave her room. Unfortunately for her, the Uchiha hold no such nobility as he was still lurking around her room.

 _What does he want? Can't he see that I'm undressed?_

And then another thought sufficed to her, but she dismissed it instantly. For her sake.

"A-ano.. Sasuke-kun? What d-do you need?" she called out to him from inside her haven.

"Hmph, to talk."

"A-ano… could you uh maybe leave for a while? I need to get dressed."

And to her dismay, she could see the ex-avenger turn around towards her direction with a simple, "No."

"B-but my clothes are inside my bag," she continue to stutter. Flustered, by the stubborn man in her room who was now ruffling through her things on her study table.

"Then take it,"

"I can't! Not like this!" She squealed. That's it, was this karma? Did she do something bad to deserve this kind of situation? Hinata wondered frustratingly.

"It's just skin," he muttered as he began opening a book.

"B-but Sasuke-kun!" she wailed again as another attempt to reason with him. Her back up plan was to holed up in the toilet for as long as possible.

To Hinata's utter surprise, she saw Sasuke went over to her bag and grabbed a pair of garment before walking towards her.

"Here," he said holding out the piece of clothing.

Hinata opened to door slightly, relieved that he was finally making sense. She opened the door just enough for her arm to snake through but was caught off guard when he suddenly gripped her hand.

"Ouch, Sasuke-kun?" she questioned his action.

"Why is your Byakugan activated?" he asked grimly.

"Y-your Sharingan is too," she stuttered.

"Don't you trust me?"

Her breath hitched. What kind of question is that? Of course not.

"Not in this circumstance," she said as she glared at his blood-red eye that seemed to illuminate her vision.

"Hn," he smirked seemingly amused with her answer.

"C-could you let go of my hand now?" she asked firmly.

Sasuke was curious. He had no idea why but he wanted to see how far he can push the Hyuuga. After all, he was bored.

"No," and just as the single word left his mouth he felt a puncturing pain in his arm.

Hinata had closed part of his tenketsu, and he was able to pull her out from behind the door just in time before she could finish off his whole arm.

Due to his sudden forceful pull, Hinata crashed into him causing him to fall backward with her on top. They landed with a loud thud on the floor.

He can feel part of his arm slightly numbed. _How dare she?_

Hinata who was quick, flipped off him and just as she was able to escape him, Sasuke did the same but trapping her body with his long leg instead.

"S-sasuke-kun, stop it!" she squealed as she wiggled out of his hold. The towel around her hair had unwrapped so now her midnight blue tresses spilled all over the floor.

As she managed to remove herself from beneath his leg, she got up, and so did he in one swift motion. They were face-to-face to each other.

"P-lease, Sasuke-kun!" she yelled at him just as the one unexpected thing happened in amidst of their wrestling.

Which stunned them both silence for a few seconds.

The white towel pooled around Hinata's legs as it undeniably dropped.

"KYAAA!" she screamed upon realisation and sprinted towards the Uchiha, knocking him down once again with supreme force. Her hand covered bot his eyes as she pinned him down with her now, naked body.

"Don't move!" she yelled at him as Sasuke's reflex wanted to upright himself. "Don't you dare move." In a lower tone she said.

They were stuck like that for a few minutes as Hinata's mind frantically searched for a solution. Sure she had the Uchiha reprimanded at the moment. But he was pinned down beneath her naked body! She thanked the heavens that none of his dojutsus can see passed her palms on his eyes.

Suddenly there was a rasp on her door.

"Hyuuga-sama! Is everything alright?" a voice was heard.

"H-hai!" Hinata replied.

"I heard a lot of noise from below, so I just wanted to make sure if everything is alright." Said the Suna guard.

"E-everything's fine. I was just practicing some t-taijutsu!" she lied.

"Hai, sorry to disturb your peace." He said followed by the sound of his footsteps.

There was no way Hinata was going to complain about her current situation. She couldn't risk another male eyes to see her stark naked condition!

"Why are you doing this? This isn't decent." she hissed at him, there were so many emotions running through her right now, Hinata wasn't sure what she was feeling at the moment. But anger was definitely one of them.

"I just wanted to talk,"

"So, knock."

"The window was opened,"

"Then at least let me get dressed!"

"It's just skin,"

How Hinata wish she could just shut off the circulations to his eyes right now.

"You're stuck aren't you?" he mocked her with his question.

"Keep quiet, I'm thinking,"

She could hear him smirked.

"I thought all kunoichi was trained when it comes to exposing skin. Isn't it one of their many tactics to lure enemies?

"I-I was excluded from that practice. My clan wouldn't allow me to degrade to that level, even if it was for the village."

"So, the Hyuugas take modesty that highly huh?" he said.

"Sasuke-kun, this isn't right. I'm undressed and you're a man. This is beyond the shinobi way."

"So what, I'm a pervert now?" his questioned pierced her more coldly than the night air itself.

When Hinata didn't answer him he said, "Hinata,"

"It leaves me no choice to think otherwise," she finally answered him.

Sasuke sighed. "I'm not touching you am I?"

"Y-yet!"

"What makes you think, I want to touch you?" he asked acidly.

"Nature!"

He scoffed upon her answer.

"Hai hai… then grab your towel, I won't open my eyes."

"No." she cut him off.

"Then we'll stay like this."

After a moment of silence, Hinata bowed her head causing her hair to sweep his face.

"It's too far," she muttered hopelessly. They were after all in the middle of the spacious room. There was no particular piece of cloth near enough for Hinata to grab.

"Just grab the damn towel, Hyuuga." He cuts the silence.

"I don't trust you,"

"We got that covered already."

Suddenly, Sasuke felt something wet on his cheeks and as he opened his mouth to speak, it entered his mouth.

 _Salty._

Hinata was crying. Her body quivered above his.

"I h-hate you, Sasuke-kun." She whimpered.

"Ahh.."

In one quick motion, Hinata got off of Sasuke and sprinted to the toilet and closed the door with a firm thud. After a few minutes she heard something rustling on the door knob of her door only to find that Sasuke had left her clothes hanging neatly on the opposite door before leaving.

* * *

 _BAAAAAHHHHH! That was awkward._

 _Again, I'm sorry for updating later than ever. I'll try to keep up my pace, but no promises though!_

 _And lastly, let me know your opinions on the story so far! Please and thank you._


	17. Followed

" _Love is the water of life. And lover is a soul of fire! The universe turns differently when fire loves water." – Unknown_

* * *

Hinata exited the hospital, as she made her way back to her room she lightly massaged the side of her neck whilst injecting soft Chakra inside her knotted muscles.

The emergency room- that's where she'll be stationed throughout her stay in Suna- to learn the ways of immediate treatment at times of urgency.

She just spent half her day there learning the ropes of applying her studied knowledge. Or so she thought to herself.

It would be a tough challenge ahead of her, she knew but she was ready for it. Somehow. She had to be.

She hugged her coat tighter around her, the wind in Suna sure is strong. As she made way to her room she bumped into Temari.

"Ohayou, Hinata." she greeted her.

"Ohayou, Temari-san."she replied with a warm smile.

"Where are you off to?"

"Just got back from the hospital,"

"Say, would you like to blow off some steam? A little taijutsu practice? I could really use a partner,"

"H-huh?" Hinata was a little bewildered by the sudden offer. It's not the fact that Temari asked her for a little sparring session—no, it was exactly that. Temari never tried to be friendly with her.

Sure she treated her as more than acquaintances but their usual talks would only be because of work. Nothing outside.

"You… don't want to?" Temari asked as her brows furrowed.

"N-no! I mean… hai! What time?" Hinata continued her series of stuttering whilst deep inside she wished she could just cut off her tongue.

"See you at 5pm. We'll practice at our private training ground,"

"Hai," Hinata slightly bowed her head as Temari walked off.

The training ground was surprisingly wide just for the three siblings. But what can she say, Suna is after all full of surprises.

There were two mats dividing the big hall into two sparring grounds. One was already occupied by the Kazekage and his brother, Kankurou. When Hinata first caught sight of the two men sparring shirtless, she blushed. But then hit herself inwardly for being silly.

At first, she was honoured to be invited inside the siblings' private training ground. And her next surprise was to actually see the Kazekage in a hand-to-hand combat. She never seen him without his gourd hanging seemingly lightly on his back—and not to mention shirtless! Both men were fit, but Gaara surprised her more since he utilizes his long distance jutsus rather than actual hand-to-hand combat. She always thought he was a lightly built man. But her theory today was proven wrong.

Temari and her started off with some light warm ups before they too started to engage in a spar like the brothers on the other mat. They went on for about an hour before Temari got a called by a Suna guard stating that she had other urgent matters to attend to at the moment.

"Agh, just when I finally have a steady sparring partner. I'm sorry Hinata, but I need to leave,"

"It's okay, I understand,"

"Kankurou!" Temari shouted to her brother who has also stopped training. "Are you coming or not?"

He smirked at her with his tattooed face. "Of course I am!" he yelled back before turning back to his younger brother, "Sorry, Gaara. I guess today's practice has to be cut short,"

"Ne, Hinata. Maybe you should spar with Gaara instead. If you want, that is," Temari asked her.

Hinata blinked owlishly. To spar with one of the strongest shinobi, what an honour. She began to blush.

Temari must have mistaken her reaction with fear since she said, "Don't worry he'll be gentle with women, especially cute ones," and winked in Gaara's direction. "Won't you, Gaara?"

"Temari," he said with note warning her to stop joking around.

"Well, see you then." She said and with then Temari and Kankurou left, leaving behind only Gaara and her.

He walked up to her and said, "I'd understand if you don't want to spar,"

"N-no! I want to," she said a little bit too loudly and quickly covered her mouth, embarrassed by her lack of composure. So she stared at his bare chest instead, but that didn't help her burning cheeks either.

"Ah, this makes you uncomfortable doesn't it," Gaara said, referring to his shirtless state when he caught where she was looking at and began to turn around in search for his shirt.

"N-no, it's not that." She said stopping him in his tracks. "I'm just honoured to have this spar with you, Kazekage-sama,"

Gaara turned around to face her once again, and she found a small smile on his face. _He does look good when he smile._ A spontaneous thought popped in her mind.

"And I to you, Hinata," he responded.

* * *

That night, Hinata was sprawled on her back. She had a pretty productive day, and now she just wants to tend her sore muscles. Oh how she wishes to be massaged. It's no lie really, nobody really knows the one thing that can make Hyuuga Hinata cave in—and it was that simple. A good massage session. There were so many kinks in her back right now, she began to get off her back and flipped back on both hands so that she was now on all four with and upside down view. The stretching regime she practices whenever she felt her spine being too tense.

But then she remembered Sasuke. She closed off parts of the tenketsus in his arm. _Serves him right for intruding!_ She thought.

But then again, he does only has one arm. And she partially disabled it. She knew from where she aimed, the effect hasn't worn off yet. After all, as a Hyuuga, her aims on chakra points were always dead accurate. She slowly lowered her body to the floor as guilt began to seep through her.

Should she?

He must be pretty angry at her at the moment.

But it was his fault.

But she's the only person here in Suna who can reverse the effect.

But he crossed the line.

He is her partner on this trip…

Hinata, was mentally battling with herself when she heard the sound again.

That rattling. Where was it coming from? Just after she and Gaara sparred together she was walking down the corridor when she heard it the first time. And every time she turned around, the sound would disappear.

And based on her previous experience, she knew what was coming.

She needed Sasuke. Her mind was made up.

Quickly she went out of her room and into the hallway, and knocked on his door.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked even though she could sense his chakra inside. Who could miss such a dark aura?

Silence.

She tried again, "Sasuke-kun, please open up."

And yet again, there was no reply. Hinata was suddenly feeling cold. She could feel goose bumps all over her arms. And…

That rattling sound.

*knock knock*

 _So annoying._ Sasuke thought to himself as he lay on his bed.

"Sasuke-kun, please open up."

 _No._

If the Hyuuga thinks he's a pervert then they shouldn't have to see each other. He was after all just an escort to her. And damn, his hand was still numb. Is this thing permanent or something?!

"S-sasuke-kun?" again the timid voice said. But only this time it was closer. She was in his room now.

"Hmph," _Pretty impressive, Hyuuga._

"Gomen, but I really need to talk to you, Sasuke-kun,"

"Why would you talk to a pervert?" he said with eyes still closed.

"Ano… I didn't mean that really." She began saying. "It was just a reaction to the situation.."

"Hn,"

"I c-came here to apologise for your arm." She continued stuttering, even though she was scared he'd get up to tell her off, she was firmed with her intentions. And so she continued.

"If you'd l-let me, I'll fix your arm back."

Sasuke's only response was to place his arm over his already closed eyes.

Hinata stood there awkwardly, not sure of what to do next. Why isn't he saying anything?!

Slowly, she took a step forward. And when there was still no response, she inched closer and closer to where Sasuke was laying down. She held her breath with every step she took, afraid that the fact that she was coming nearer would pissed him off.

She was at his side now, and if someone were to look at his profile, they would thought he was dead except for the fact for the slight movement of his chest indicating his breathing.

"Ano… please let me take your hand, Sasuke-kun,"

"Hn,"

Well that surprised her!

Taking that response as a yes, she took a sit next to him and lightly lifted his hand and place it on her lap.

 _Byakugan!_

When she was done unblocking his chakra points—and other nerves that she blocked. She was startled with the fact that he was staring at her with his sharingan.

Surprised by her alertness, Sasuke quickly deactivated his once again unintentionally activated sharingan.

"G-gomen once again, Sasuke-kun. I'll be going now." Hinata quickly said as she got off the bed.

But Sasuke's now, fixed hand grabbed hers.

"I thought you wanted to talk," he muttered.

"H-hai…" Hinata said as she sat back down on his bed. "I think it's starting again." She spoke lowly, afraid that whatever was following her could hear her.

"The haun—" Sasuke started saying but was stopped by Hinata's hand that suddenly clasped upon his mouth.

She had a finger to her lips while she nodded frantically. On that note, Sasuke sat up, disengaging himself from her hand.

"And..." Hinata started saying while she begin to hesitantly bring her mouth closer to his ear and whispered,

"…It's close by."

* * *

 _Oh my, it's been so long since I've last updated!(I seem to keep doing this don't I? Ugh..) I'm terribly sorry. I hate myself for it too._

 _I know it's a short chap. But I want the story to actually MOVE._

 _Haha, let me know if you're still reading, alright?_

 _And I'm still experimenting on writing the spooky bits, so beware!_

 _Reviews please!_


	18. No Strings Attached

_Oh, angel sent from up above_

 _You know you make my world light up_

 _When I was down, when I was hurt_

 _You came to lift me up_

 _\- Hymn for the Weekened by Coldplay_

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes to see a dimly lit room. Following the source of the light, she found Sasuke huddled over a study desk at the end of the bed she was laying on.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing here?" she asked groggily as she sat up and rubbed sleep out of her eyes.

"If by here, you mean my room then I'm not sure how to answer your question," Sasuke replied without looking away from the book he was reading.

As if on autopilot, Hinata quickly stood up. She fell asleep! Last night, after telling Sasuke about being followed, she felt rather unsettled to return back to her room. She asked him if you could just wait around in his room until she no longer felt the presence but… she didn't expect to fall asleep! Looking around Sasuke's room, she tried to find a clock to tell her the time.

"It's half past four in the morning, in case you're wondering,"

" _Nani?!_ " she asked, alarmed. "Gomen ne, Sasuke-kun. I didn't mean to take your bed." Hinata apologized as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I wasn't planning on sleeping anyways," he muttered ever so keen on studying his book.

Curious, Hinata walked over to him and leaned over his side to see what he was reading.

"A-are those, case notes?" she asked.

" _Your_ case notes, to be exact." He said, dropping his pen and finally looking up to her. "I'm beginning to think that the spirits that are after you, are restless ones. And it depends on the location you're in. These spirits are most probably tied to their location of death and they need you, to get away from it."

"How do you know these things, Sasuke-kun?" curious, Hinata asked.

He trailed his eyes lazily towards her before simply saying, "Experiences."

"H-hai… S-so, does this mean that they need my body as a vessel of some sort?"

"A medium. In order to accomplish whatever goals they have in mind." Sasuke said and paused. He remembers too well on how his body was once needed by a certain psycho back when he was younger.

"Understood," Hinata said after a while as she contemplated on the idea. "My house, the library, the forest and now here. There are four of them."

"Or maybe just three, since your house and the library is in Konoha, and the library card you found made its way to the Uchiha graveyard."

"Hai," Hinata said in a softer tone, she still felt bad for trespassing.

Sasuke leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Where did you first notice the rattling sound, again?"

"At the Kazekage and his siblings' training area."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed upon hearing this. "When?"

"Ano… right after my sparring session with the Kazekage, yesterday evening."

" _You_ sparred, with him?" he asked in a low steady tone, but somehow it felt unnerving. Accusing, even.

"I-I had to replace Kankuro-san." Hinata stuttered.

"And it was the first time you felt the presence since we've been here?"

"Hai,"

Sasuke took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly before saying,

"Hinata," he said in grave voice.

"H-hai?" Hinata was weary of his tone.

"Spar with him again, today." His tone heavy.

Hinata lifted her brows in confusion.

"And make sure, to get me invited this time." He continued saying with dead finality as he looked at her straight in the eyes before saying, "Understood?"

"B-but, Sasuke-kun I don't—"

"It is a private training ground, correct?"

Hinata nodded.

"So it's either I get invited or I break into it, you hear me?"

* * *

"Gaara-sama, I'm sorry if this favor of mine is too much, I'd understand if you were to refuse it. Hinata said as she bowed her head slowly.

There was a brief pause.

"I'd never knew the Uchiha is keen on mingling with someone of his acquaintance." Gaara replied as he stared outside his office window."

"Sasuke-kun, is not how he appears to be. Like I said before, he has become a close friend of mine ever since the war. And I feel bad for him to not do anything during he's stay here since I am the reason... why he is here."

"A friend?" Gaara asked. The word friend itself piqued his interest.

"H-hai, we have been acquainted since we were children due to inter-clan meetings."

"Ah… yes. I forgot that you both come from prestigious clans." He said lowly as if more to himself rather than to Hinata.

Confused, Hinata asked, "Gaara-sama?"

"Well, I supposed he can come since he is a friend of yours, Hinata." Gaara replied after a brief pause before turning to face her.

" _Arigatou gozaimasu!_ "

"I'm looking forward to it." He said, his face portraying his ever stoic expression.

* * *

"Argh, are you serious?!" Temari yelled at her poor right hand man who came to tell her she was needed once again during her training sessions.

"F-forgive me, Temari-sama but you are truly needed!" the man spoke quickly before taking a deep bow.

Temari sighed deeply, exhaling her building rage. "Fine, I'll be there in five minutes."

"Hai!" the man bowed once again before leaving the area.

"Gaara, you do realised that if this keeps up, I'll be out of shape in no time, right?"

"You and I both know it's beyond my power," Gaara replied just as he dodged an attack from Sasuke.

"Hey sand boy, I suggest you focus on our spar or it will become ugly," Sasuke said as he lunged another attack. "On your part at least."

They were practicing their taijutsu that evening.

"Hinata, you know the drill. I guess, you're left with no partner now."

"It's alright, Temari-san. Thank you, for the spar." Hinata replied humbly.

"Heh, ever the polite now are we? Well then, see you later."

After Temari left, Hinata grabbed her towel and wiped her sweaty face. Even though, it was a short spar, Temari really did gave her a hard work out. Hinata looked over the two men who was sparing on the other mat.

Surprisingly, the two seemed equally matched. The sound of attacks being blocked echoed within the training area walls. She watched in awe as the Kazekage blocked each and every one of Sasuke's attacks gracefully.

Both men were stoic, which can be easily said by anybody. But upon closer inspection, they fight rather differently. Gaara maintains his stoic expression no matter how extreme his lunges are. But as for the Uchiha, his face would contort into the opposite of concealment but rather, passion with each of his strikes.

Hinata watched as the two _dance_ together in the art of taijutsu. They tangoed each other without missing a beat, and it was mesmerizing her. Well at least until his eyes shifted in her direction. Even though it was for a fraction of a second, she heard the order. _Get going!_

She turned around and headed to the locker room, or at least she was heading towards it. Exiting the main training hall, she entered a long corridor where she would find both men and women's locker rooms.

As the big doors closed with a heavy thud, she could feel the silence engulfing her. _Okay, now where exactly did those rattling sounds come from?_ Hinata thought to herself as she began to walk. Even before she entered the training room she already felt a presence stalking up behind her. For example, when she was zipping up her bag, she swore she felt someone breathing down her neck. And untimely so, that when Temari came up to her at that exact moment, asking her what was wrong, she had to lie about feeling like her period was coming up. Which Temari bit, thankfully for her since Hinata was never a good liar to begin with.

It didn't take her long before her question was answered though. As she was silently creeping down the corridor, a door to her right slowly opened, creaking on its hinges only no one came through it. Bracing herself, she knew what was coming as she was accustomed to the mild invitations the 'spirits' would give her every now and then.

Ignoring the chills down her spine, she pushed the door open slowly and entered the dimly litted room as the sun outside was setting, leaving shadows to forecast on what appear to be a storage room.

Hinata could feel her heart beat faster. The air around her was suddenly chilly and the atmosphere was suddenly, pin-drop silence. Something was off in this room she could feel it as she wade herself through the multiple objects and furniture randomly arranged in the room.

The arrangement of the tall cabinets were so that it left narrow spaces in between for anyone to go through—like a maze of some sort. Following her instincts she headed to exactly where her bloody instincts were telling her to avoid the potential danger. She knew that whatever was luring her in at the moment was lurking somewhere at the back of the storage room.

Once she reached the back, there was a very large cabinet against the wall. The middle door was slightly ajar. Praying silently in her heart, she took a step towards it.

Nothing happened.

Feeling slightly relieved, Hinata was just about to take another step before something came bursting out from the cabinet at a speed of light, that all she could see was a blur. That is until it came to a screeching stop just centimetres away from her face—a puppet. It had long brown hair, with its mouth wide open, rattling. Its eyes were yellow, and appeared undead.

Startled, Hinata stumbled backwards. The flying figure flew up and circled around the ceiling, screaming like a banshee—another self-note Hinata remembered from one of her books.

"W-who are you?!" Hinata shouted at the figure.

Another shrill laughter filled the room.

"Silly girl! You foolishly came to me instead of me, to you! Hahaha!" the thing shrieked yet again.

It was too much, Hinata closed her ears with both hands. Its screaming was so high pitched it could pierced her ear drums; that, she was sure of. Frantically, her eyes darted for a cover. _There!_

Hinata sprinted behind a knocked over set of drawers just in time to avoid the blade, the thing was emitting from its mouth.

Angered by its failed attempt to stab her, it threw multiple smoke bombs towards Hinata just before spitting a set of mini kunais forcing Hinata to come out from her cover.

 _Byakugan!_ Who was pulling the strings of this puppet?!

Oddly enough, there were no chakra strings leading to well—anywhere. It has to be spirit, there's no other reason. Dodging another attack, Hinata tried to activate her black rinnegan or whatever. As she jumped from floor, wall and every other steady objects in the room as she mentally screamed for her newly discovered dojutsu to activate.

 _Kuro Rinnegan!_

But… nothing happened. Feeling dismayed, Hinata kept on trying for several more times until the spirit pushed the table she was aiming to land on at the very last minute, causing her to stagger on the floor.

And the milliseconds it took for her to reposition herself, was all the spirit needed to lunge another set of attacks; this time it was small black spheres that attached easily on her jacket.

Upon realising what it was, Hinata quickly shrugged off her jacket and leapt away to safety, as her jacket burst into flames.

"Oof!" Hinata scoffed painfully as she was smashed onto the ceiling by the puppet's extended hand causing several chips of it to fall down; choking her at the same time. She wondered whether Sasuke, Gaara or anybody at all could hear all the commotion that was happening. After all, this is the strongest spirit she has encountered by far.

"Leave him alone!" the puppet screamed.

 _Him?!_ Hinata thought to herself in surprise.

Finally, as she couldn't withstand her windpipes being crushed, she automatically yelled,

" _Rinne-byakugan!"_

And just like that, she could see what was exactly manipulating the puppet that was attacking her.

Hinata gasped loudly, out of shock.

"Like what you see?" the spirit which appeared to be a woman with long hair and eerily long nails said to her before throwing Hinata to side, letting her crash into the wall.

"Ah!" Hinata yelled in pain as she slid to the floor, clutching her throbbing side, she staggered to stand upright.

"Who are you?" she muttered through her pain.

The spirit threw her head backwards and laughed hysterically.

"Idiot girl, you should have known who my man belongs to before seducing him!" her yellow eyes flashed in anger.

" _Nani?!"_ Now, Hinata was confused. Who was she talking about?

"Don't act innocent! You know exactly who I'm talking about." The spirit turned away from her before it began to sob out of the sudden.

"My dear sweet S-sasori… He left for a reason I know, and now that he's back better than ever—" it said between tears,

"—I won't let him out of my sight, especially now that he is the Kazekage!" in a deeper voice the spirit yelled and within seconds flew right at Hinata, aiming at her throat with her long nails.

It was fast, but Hinata managed to escape its nail as it grazed the right side of her cheek.

"Y-you're mistaken! He is not Sasori! The Kazekage is—before Hinata could finish her sentence, a long wire was quickly tied around her upper body locking her arms to the side.

"Ugh! Please, listen to me,"

"And what, let you persuade me to give him to you. I saw the look in his eyes. Do you think I'm stupid not to notice?!"

The wire around Hinata tightened extremely on that note. Concentrating her chakra on her arms, she activated her Twin Lions Jutsu and cut through the wire around her.

"You are extremely mistaken! The Kazekage's name is Sabaku no Gaara! And he is nothing like that traitor Sasori!" Hinata yelled angrily.

The spirit just laughed and in an instant grabbed Hinata's left foot with a wire that jutted out from her mouth, knocking Hinata off her feet, causing her head to hit the floor causing her head to throb painfully.

"You whore! You're lying! Stay away from my man!" the spirit said and Hinata could feel her body being dragged towards it slowly before her vision slowly darkens.

She could see the spirit/puppet opening its mouth at an inhuman size, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth before seeing her foot being pulled into and feeling….

"AAAAGH!" Hinata wasn't sure where the screaming came from, but the immense pain she felt radiating from her left foot up to her hip was too much for her to handle, which made her already blurry vision finally coming into total darkness.

* * *

 _Yeah, I know. I'm really late at updating this story. So, here it is: I'M SO SORRY! I SWEAR EVEN SASUKE AND HINATA IN THIS STORY HAS BEEN HAUNTING ME SINCE MY LAST UPDATE._

 _There, it can't be helped. I had a rather rough semester._

 _Anyways, I hope this chapter somehow clears up for those of you asking about what was haunting Hinata. It's a stretch, but trust me I'm trying to make it blend with the plot. (fingers crossed)_

 _Hopefully, you guys enjoyed reading it and don't forget to review, yah? Please and thank you!_


	19. Mothers

_She has black and white eyes_  
 _A mind full of vintage squibs_  
 _She has black and white eyes_  
 _A mind full of cheering lives_

 _\- Black and White Eyes by Syd Matters_

* * *

It was black. The atmosphere around her felt heavy, as if she was blanketed by a thick fog that lacks oxygen. 

Hinata noted that she was on her back and with a strand of loose hair on her face. She motioned for her hand to wipe it off, but failed to; as her arms were tightly bounded to her sides.

 _Where am I?_

As she tried to wiggle herself free, she heard a malicious laughter somewhere close to her. Due to the thick fog that clouded her vision, Hinata attempted to activate her byakugan. 

"HE'S MINE!" boomed a voice so loudly in her ears, she immediately stopped short from activating her kekkei genkai. 

Not long after that the laughter began again. Hinata could feel her sweat trickled at the side of her temple. Slowly, the rope that appeared to bind her was tugged, and not sooner after that, her whole body was dragged towards the unknown that sat behind the fog. 

She remembers. She finally remembers where she stood, and what came next. A scream began to build in her throat and no sooner than that, without any control on her part, she let it out as fear took place in her mind. 

* * *

"Shit!" the blonde yelled in surprise as the vase in front of her crashed to the floor, creating a scattered mess of glass shards and an unceremonious arrangement of flowers. 

She looked over her shoulder and saw the dark haired kunoichi sat up straight in her bed looking frenzied. 

"Whoa, whoa, there. Down, girl." Temari said as she looked at the distraught girl. 

"T-temari-san, w-what happened?" Hinata stammered as she clutched her heart which was still beating hard after her little nightmare. 

Temari, who was now kneeled down was picking up the flowers on the floor and simply said, "Ha? You mean that you don't remember anything at all?" 

"A-ano… it's not that I don't." Hinata began to say as she fidget with her bedsheet. She knew she was beat up, judging by her waking up in a sterile white room, and not to mention on a hospital bed. 

"I-I just d-don't know how I got here." She finished saying. 

"You mean here, _alive_ right?" 

"H-hai," she said after a momentary pause as in just keying in the importance of the word _alive._

At that point, Temari was done collecting the flowers and stood up before placing them on the side table where it originally was. 

"Oh okay, well to make a long story short, my brother and the Uchiha came to your rescue." Temari said with a sad smile on her face. 

"O-oh… I guess— 

"Listen, Hinata." Temari interjected. "My brother will probably keep his distance from you at the moment. But it's not because he resents you or anything." 

Hinata was confused. 

"H-he. Well, it's actually the opposite." Temari began explaining before releasing an exasperated chuckle. 

Hinata kept on waiting patiently. She wouldn't lie, but that particular news did surprise her. 

"He didn't say anything, but trust me, I know my brother. He regrets for not getting to you in time." 

"B-but it wasn't his fault!" 

"Huh, I know. Do me a favour will ya? Please try to ease his conscience for me. And don't let him know I leaked this." 

After Temari left, Hinata was finally able to assess her situation properly. The first thing she notices was of course that her left foot was being hoisted up by a pulley over the end of the bed; casted of course. Silently, she prayed that it wasn't too broken or anything. But that wasn't the case and deep down she knew it. 

Then she started to analyse further with her kekkei genkai—the Hyuuga way as one would say. However, she managed only a slight flicker of the special vision before it deactivated. 

_What is wrong with my eyes?_

The door to her room opened, and a medic nin in a white coat entered while flipping through her chart. 

"Oh good, you're up. Hyuga-san, I know you must be feeling a little bit of discomfort right now and… not to mention confused, am I right?" he paused as he made sure she got the first part of what he was saying to her. "And that is why I need to fill you in on your condition before I pump in another dose of morphine, okay?" 

Hinata just stared at him. He had no idea what she was feeling. 

"O-okay, then. Well let's begin." The medic ninja nervously pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

"Due to your _accident,_ you suffered a mild concussion, a broken foot, some cuts and… that's about it." 

Silence. 

"I'd like to say that it's all good news, since we treated most of your injuries but—" he heaved a sigh before continuing, "—your foot is really badly broken. I mean even our best effort could just patch it off. But to grow back your ligaments and reattached them, it'll take time." 

"S-so how long will it take to heal?" 

He smiled, happy that Hinata finally spoke. But the joy was brief though, as what he was about to say next might not be too pleasant for her. 

"A few months, but as for now, you need to at least stay here for another 3-4 weeks just for the splint to stabilize the broken bones." 

"W-what about my t-training?"

Another bad news, he hates this part of his job. Really, he does.

"Ano... Hyuuga-san. It's not my place to speak, but based on experience, it might as will be postponed."

"I see," Hinata said lowering her head.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, just don't push yourself too hard during training next time okay?"

"Huh?" that caught her. "W-what do you—"

The door to her room opened.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but we're short staffed in the E.R. we need you Kawasaki sensei. Now." A male doctor said before closing the door.

"I'm sorry, I have to go, just allow me to—" he went to her IV drip and as promised gave her another dose of morphine.

* * *

Maybe it was the drug. Or maybe it was something else, but that was the last thing Hinata remembered before feeling cool air blowing through her. She felt dizzy.

What is this sensation? Her neck feels so stiff and her feet seems to be dangling. Slowly Hinata opened her eyes and saw what seems to be… brown feathers?

 _Nani?!_

She turned her head to look at her surrounding so fast, she had a kink in her neck.

" _Itai!"_ she squeaked in pain. But that's not even the first of her surprise. She got a glimpse of her surrounding and it was… the sky?

She was up in the air apparently on some giant bird. She even tried to move her torso but it was strapped to… someone.

Panicked, she tried to escape.

"Keep. Calm." A familiar voice said. She felt a pang of relief.

"You're upsetting Garuda. And not to mention your weight is already an extra burden to it."

Ignoring his icy tone, she asked. "W-why am I here?" She lifted her left foot to see if she still had her cast, whether it was all a dream or some sort.

Unfortunately, her foot was still broken but it wasn't in a cast anymore but instead it was in a big-sized boot—a walking boot. A more sophisticated means for splinting a foot.

"We're heading back to Konoha."

"B-but why? I thought I—" Hinata stopped mid-sentence. "I-I don't feel too good." And just like that she started vomiting.

Upside down that is. The bird did a three-sixty spin just in time for her vomit to plummet to the unfortunate earth below. And thanks to Sasuke's good grip on her she didn't fall off.

"What's going on?" she grumbled.

Hinata was grumpy. She wasn't feeling too hot. And now this, flying on a giant bird right after breaking her foot?! Talk about random.

Before she could open her mouth to ask Sasuke more question he put a cloth over her mouth. Well, to be exact he was wiping it. Her vomit that is. That, she realise soon after recovering from her surprise.

* * *

He had to strap her to him. It was the only way for them to travel. Needless to say, she was high on morphine at the moment. If the Hokage knew what he said to the Kazekage about him taking Hinata back like this, he was sure his head wouldn't be nicely attached to his body right now.

But what choice did he had?

No way were they staying in that land, while a murderous soul is trying to kill the Hyuuga. It will only lead to another reason for his head to be off! Sasuke looked at the sleeping Hyuuga beneath his nose. _Hmm.. her head sure smell nice. It has a soft flowery scent to it._

Catching himself in the act, Sasuke quickly focused on her left foot which was resting on the side of the hawk. It seems… stabled. Okay, so maybe it was an idiotic move on Sasuke's side, for him to take her on this journey when she just had multiple fractures several hours ago. But to be fair, it was her life that was at stake.

Suddenly the bluenette stirred against him. Apparently she seemed surprised and moved her head to quickly.

" _Itai!"_ she squeeked before struggling against the strap.

" _Uchiha-sama, please do not let her move too much." Garuda, the hawk telepathically told him._

"Keep calm," he told her. "You're upsetting Garuda. And not to mention your weight is already an extra burden to it."

She stopped moving upon hearing his voice. She started asking some questions before somewhere along the lines, she vomited.

 _Very graceful, princess._ Sasuke thought to himself. He then took out a napkin and wiped her mouth with it.

"Uchiha-sama, I feel a storm coming up." Garuda spoke again.

"Hai, once we reach a forest, take shelter," Sasuke replied. They were after all in the middle of a very wide spread of snow below them.

"It's so c-cold," Hinata chattered as she begins hugging herself, pulling her coat tighter around her.

On that note, Sasuke started to notice that indeed the atmosphere around them was getting extremely chilly. And fast too.

Before they know it, a humongous tornedo appeared before them and it was getting bigger and bigger by the second. Garuda tried to overturn it but it was impossible with its size. They were slowly engulfed by it spinning along the wind's invisible axis.

"Uchiha-sama!" Garuda yelled.

"Go! Leave us!" Sasuke ordered as he knew there was nothing more the hawk could do with the trajectory of the wind.

"B-but—

"Just go!"

"Gomen," and just like that his summon poofed into smoke.

"Ahh!" Hinata yelled as she slipped down the bind she had around her and it was now up to her neck, strangling her.

The tornedo spun them around so fast that it was a struggle for Hinata to free her head from the bind around Sasuke's chest. Fortunately, she managed to untangle and was holding the belt tightly.

Panicked, Sasuke grabbed her arm as it was the only part of her he could grab onto so that they won't split up.

"S-sasuke-kun!"

"Don't let go!" Sasuke was trying to concentrate his chakra to activate his Susanoo. It was hard as both of them were spinning wildly around at high speed and all.

"I-I can't— " and just like that, Hinata lost hold of the belt and they separated.

Major problem. He couldn't activate his Susanoo now since it would harm Hinata. And so they continued spinning around, trapped in the monstrous tornedo. Even breathing was becoming difficult at that point.

Finally, something hard hit him at the back of his head that Sasuke could swear he heard his skull cracked before—

His world went black.

* * *

 _Am I…_

… _dead?_

It is so…

… peaceful.

Sasuke never felt so calm before. Yes, aside from the day he lost his arm, this was the second time he felt at ease, as if nothing was on his mind. He could feel the air around him blowing lightly against his face. He was in a forest, that's for sure—he could smell it. The leaves of the trees. The moisture of the grass that carpeted to earth below him.

Suddenly his vision became brighter. And his assumption was proven right, he is in a forest. However, when he tried to looked around, his head won't move. In fact, he can't even control his eyeball movements.

The vision became higher, as he stood up unwillingly. He then began moving around—stealthily if he might add. The hands that appear before him as they push aside bushes and small branches aside… weren't his.

 _What the hell? Am I in a genjutsu?_

He began moving deeper into the forest, occasionally looking right and left, up and down—he was searching for something.

Something tells him it wasn't a genjutsu. He seemed to be the eyes of someone. A woman.

 _But how?_ He continued to observe as the woman—him began moving towards a particular bush, and upon closer inspection he could see a tuft of bluish hair between the leaves.

 _Hinata?_

The woman quickly jumped over the bush and turned to face the person behind it.

"Nooo! You found me!" the person said, apparently a small person she was. A child no older than five years old with opal eyes.

 _Hina—_

"There you are, Hinata-chan." A female voice began saying. Only it seemed to be coming from Sasuke himself. But he recognizes it.

"Game over!" the woman started to shout melodically.

"Oh no, I guess we lost again. Maybe next time ne Hinata?" a woman with similar bluish hair appeared from the opposite direction said.

"Of course we won, you yourself Hana are not carrying just one person you know," the female voice said again as her—Sasuke's vision lowered to the other's woman abdomen. She appeared to be late in her pregnancy.

He knows this.

"Yes, we won again, okaasan!" a young boy came in view running towards him.

A young boy with jet black hair and matching black eyes looked up at him excitingly.

"Okaasan!" he said arms stretched upwards.

"Hai hai, Sasuke-kun. Now go shake hands with Hinata." the woman said as she patted the child's head.

He remembers this.

 _O…okaasan._ Sasuke felt a lump forming in his throat. This was his memory.

Kid Sasuke walked over to Kid Hinata and pinched her cheek. The girl turned red.

"Sasuke-kun, don't do that to Hinata-chan." His mother scolded kid Sasuke.

"But it's so round," he said with a pout.

A pause.

"Fine.." kid Sasuke said as he grabbed kid Hinata's hand and shook it. "Better luck next time ne?"

"Hai!" kid Hinata squealed confidently as she clutched both her hands together.

"Now let's have lunch, okay?" his mother said.

During their lunch, Hana turned to face him, "Mikoto-chan, I need to talk to you," her voice sounded grave, but the two children were too engrossed fighting over the last sandwich.

Therefore, taking advantage of their temporary distraction, th two ladies got up and walked behind a few nearby trees.

"What is it, Hana?"

"There's something I have to tell you before I give birth again," the person named Hana began saying, her brows furrowed so much like a certain person Sasuke knew too well.

"Eh? Why? What's the matter?" his mother asked, voice thick with concern.

"None of the Hyuuga knows about what I'm going to tell you, Mikoto. Not even Hiashi." Hanna said and paused as she took a deep breath. "And I would have kept it to myself, but recently I don't know but I feel like someone is on to me. Suspicious of me."

"Why would anyone be suspicious of you?"

"W-well, that's what I wanted to tell you. I… well, on the day Hinata was born, I…" she looked at him directly in his eyes and in her opal eyes he saw it all—fear, regret and sadness.

"… I passed on something to her."

"... You mean the byakugan?"

"N-no.. it is similar, but not exactly the same." Hana began saying. "I wish I could explain everything to you, Mikoto but I don't have much time." she began sobbing. "I hope that what is unclear will be drawn out at my final resting place."

"Hana?!"

Suddenly, his vision went into a blur, it was like someone pressing the fast forward button on a tape because the next thing he knew was that he was walking up towards his home with his kid self in one hand.

"Okaasan," kid Sasuke began saying. "Why do you look so sad? Didn't we have fun with the Hyuugas?"

His mother then turned him around to face her and squatted down so she was on on kid Sasuke's eye level. "Sasuke, I want you to understand one thing, okay?" she grabbed both of kid Sasuke's arms lightly.

Kid Sasuke nodded and stared at him expectantly.

"I want you to understand that there are many ways for you to care for someone. You don't always have to be with that person. Sometimes, that person might need time to understand him or herself first before you can care for them, okay?" she began putting a hand on kid Sasuke's heart. "If you truly care about that person, keep them here, and never abandon them in their time of need."

And just like that, Sauke's vision was clouded by a bright white vision that blinded him.

* * *

 _Hey there, long time no update huh? I'm really sorry as usual. I didn't get to enjoy my summer break too much this year as a family member of mine collapsed recently, and I.. I wasn't really in the mood to write. Sorry, about that._

 _And now I'm back in another country. Aha, school time._

 _And yes, I know I'm peeling this story rather slowly as mentioned by one of my reviewers. Thank you, for pointing that out, really. But I really do intend to drag out the plot piece by piece. It's the only way I know how to pan out this story. Please be patient with me, onegai shimasu!_

 _And of course last but not least, reviews please! A shout out to my previous reviewers who gave me those extremely supportive insights on my humble fic, really you guys put a smile on my face in my darkest times. I appreciate your comments as they really help me notice the right and wrongs that I'm doing and hopefully I'll improve from chapter to chapter. So, keep them going, I'm all ears! Or eyes! Whatever you think fits. Haha, see ya in the next chapter. :)_


	20. Memories

_Yes, I know. It's been like ages since I've last updated. There's nothing more that I can say aside from my sincerest apology.. Anyhoo.. I'm back! Thank you so much for those who urged me to continue.. I will try, I promise._

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes. And to be honest, he felt like shit. The back of his head throbbed painfully. Looking around, he knew he was in a hospital somewhere; the sterile smell was sharp. Wait, what happened to him? Was this another part of the recurring visions he had through his mother's view? He began to move his hand, checking if it was still his. Thankfully, a hand appeared before his sight. Alright, he was back.

A movement by his side caught his attention, glancing in its direction he was a bit surprised to see Sakura in her white coat scribbling away on her chart, her eyes appeared hooded, deep in concentration. Man, was his reaction time slow.

"Am I back in Konoha?" he asked through coarse voice. Damn, his throat felt scratchy. How long was he out?!

The pinkette shrugged lightly without glancing in his direction. "Well, if there's me, you're in Konoha alright."

Silence.

"I don't recall what happened to me and.." he trailed off only now realising that Hinata was with him in all that chaos with the storm.

"Hinata-chan?" Sakura piped, clicking her pen before sliding it in her coat pocket. "Ah, I see you're beginning to remember now."

A strange sensation suddenly overcame him. Shit. Shit! Where was she?! Sasuke began to sit up on his bed, but failed as his head felt like a ton of bricks were stuffed into it.

"You're on meds, Sasuke. It'll be a while before you can move around normally." Sakura said in a disinterested voice.

"Where is she?" he asked several moments later, rubbing his forehead which he found out was bandaged.

"She was here for two weeks, since it took that long to stabilize her condition but then the Hyuugas as per usual took her back to their compound for further treatments.

Silence.

Sasuke stared at her silently. Haruno Sakura, the girl who had tried to help him since day one. His comrade, his admire. She did age up well but the lines on her face appears hard. Tired. And her eyes were a distant pale green now. It was to seem as if her light was put out. And to make matters worse, the unsettling feeling in Sasuke's gut is bitter proof that he knew why.

He now understood what Naruto had meant when they sparred the last time. She wasn't ready for a new start. At least not yet since she was still anchored to the past.

"Well, I guess I'm done here. You can ask the nurse if you need anything else." She suddenly said as she turned to leave.

"Sakura," Sasuke began saying without thinking. And instantly Sakura's hand flew up to her chest protectively.

Again, he knew why she did so. The past may seem distant but it never really goes away, does it? Anything could trigger a bitter memory of what had happened. And no matter how hard we try to get pass it, it's still there, written in history. Unavoidable, unchanging and unbreakable.

 _If only we were unselfish enough to admit that we were wrong._

Refocusing his vision to her shoulder because it made what he was about to do much easier, Sasuke started to say, "Sakura, I'm sor—

The door to the room flew open. And a boisterous blonde headed person appeared at its frame.

"TEME!" the dobe's voice boomed throughout the whole room before his tall frame entered and walked straight towards his bed with a disbelieving look fixed on his face.

Sakura quickly turned to go, her hurt hidden within her green gem eyes and left the room. But Sasuke saw it, he saw what he had done to her, and for the first time ever, he actually felt bad.

 _And to forgive those who had done us wrong._

"Teme! First of all, I'm glad you're alright but— " Naruto began pacing around in circles as his hands clasped the back of his head.

"—for Kami's sake, you just literally made me hand over my ass on a silver platter to the Hyuugas you know that?!" he belted out before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"How is she?" Sasuke simply replied not appreciating the noise Naruto was making in his current condition.

"NO. You don't get to ask questions. I'M asking them. It literally took me three weeks to fend off those angry Hyuugas and you know as well as I do that when I say Hyuugas it is mainly Hiashi, right?!" Naruto said sounding almost hysterical.

Okay, so the Hokage wannabe is mad. He could handle a mad Naruto. He always had.

"But why would he be angry with you?" Sasuke asked rather innocently despite knowing exactly why.

"Because his all-seeing eyes found out I switched my name to yours in the mission assignment to Suna!" he wailed rather miserably. "And well, you know what comes after that…"

"Tsunade?"

"Nearly beat me to a pulp." Naruto said lifelessly as he sat on a chair next to Sasuke's bed. "The only good thing was that Gaara reported to Tsunade that you asked for an early leave so that Hinata could heal faster if she was brought back to Konoha—which was kind of rude in my opinion for you to not trust Suna's medic nins to do the job though. But thankfully, Gaara being the good guy he is, didn't seem to take it the wrong way."

He had to thank that red haired sand boy one day. He did as he was told to. _I actually persuaded the Kazekage for Kami's sake,_ Sasuke thought to himself.

"But still, what the heck happened teme?! You nearly killed Hinata!" Naruto looked at him with those annoying blue eyes of his.

"There was a sudden snow storm, and we were caught in a tornado of some sort. That's it." Sasuke answered simply.

"Hah, but Sai reported there was nothing out of sorts with the weather that day when he and his team found you guys laying in the snow," Naruto said as he stroked his chin. "You should be plenty grateful that Sai could draw birds because you and Hinata really lost a lot of blood by then." He continued saying.

"So.. how is she? My head feels like it split into two. Sasuke asked wearily as he doesn't want to trigger another outburst from the dobe.

"Actually, that's a pretty accurate metaphor since you and her both literally did cracked your heads. I guess judging from your story, you guys must've collided into each other when you were caught in the tornedo or something. Talking about getting into a girl's head if you know what I mean?" Naruto smirked at his own joke.

"Dobe." He muttered.

"Aha! I knew you had a thing for her. Oh Sasuke, you really are full of surprises. I've had to save your sorry ass for far too long now. If you're into her, you have my personal vouch but like I said, good luck with Hiashi."

"Does he wants my ass too?" he asked just to amuse the dobe.

"Nah, more like your head. On a stick in the middle of somehere." Naruto casually said, bringing his foot to rest on his knee. "But, this too shall pass."

"Tch."

As Naruto began to lean back on his chair, he suddenly remembered something. "Wait, was that Sakura just now with you before I entered?"

"Yes.." Sasuke replied slowly as irritation rose within him.

"TEME, YOU BETTER DO YOUR END OF THE DEAL OR ELSE!"

* * *

The wind howled wildly outside the homes of every Konohans. It was after all, the peak of winter. A girl was seen near the window of her bedroom, her palms pressed against the glass. Somehow the numbness she felt soothed her inner turmoil. Her brows creased as they usually do.

It was unbelievable. Never she thought was possible for a person to actually go back in time, but it happened. After all, the universe is filled with secrets waiting to be discovered. And here she was just a plain existence in a chosen span of time.

 _The moment she awoken she was in the familiar Hyuuga infirmary; her helper Mitsuko was wringing a piece of cloth from a bowl of water._

" _Welcome back, Hinata-sama," she said in her gentle tone as she turned around and place the now damped, cloth on her forhead. "It's nice to see you."_

 _What happened? Was it all a dream? It wasn't the first time she would wake up in this room. Did she just returned from yet another mission with her team where she got knocked out?_

" _Haruno-san really did a good job in healing your foot," Mitsuko said and it jogged up her memories, alright._

 _A pit formed in her heart and she was over showered with sadness instantly._

" _How is.. how is.." Hinata began saying as she closed her eyes. ".. Uchiha-san?" and she heard the surprise reaction from her helper even though it was inaudible._

" _Gomen, but as far as I know, he still hasn't woken up yet."_

She wondered if he was alright though. It's been two weeks since she awoken, and miraculously she could walk again with the aid of crutches. She had sent a note of apology to Gaara for her and the Uchiha's sudden departure, but nothing too detailed as she doesn't know what the status of Gaara's knowledge on their agendas were. She has to see him.

So many unanswered questions. So many things needed to be explained. Hinata was told that her injury involved her head which gave her a great excuse to loom in her sullen and unspoken nature these past couple of weeks. She could just be alone and think quietly.

The Hyuuga compound was vacant at the moment as most of them were travelling to another village for Hanabi's introduction as soon to be heir. The only ones left were her, Mitsuko and some other elderly Hyuugas who could not travel through the harsh weather.

She decided to see Sasuke that night.

After her presumably bedtime, she climbed out of her window and at the best chance, hopped out when the cost was clear. Her foot hurt a little even when she tried her best to land as gently as possible. But she knew she couldn't sleep that night, and only Sasuke could give what her running thoughts needed at that moment. As she was nearing the hospital she activated her kekkei genkai, but to both her surprise and relief, his chakra presence was nowhere in sight.

 _He must have been discharged._

And to his home she went.

As she approached his room window—no point knocking his door in the middle of the night, she accidentally startled the poor Uchiha as he was just entering his room with a towel around his neck.

"H-hinata?" he asked squinting at her; a rare sight indeed.

"Pretty intrusive way to enter someone's home, huh?" she asked half jokingly, before stepping inside.

He only responded with a curt 'Hn' and eyed her bandaged foot before taking a seat on his bed. The usually brooding young man didn't seemed like himself. He looked… on edged.

"Ano… Sasuke-kun, how is your head?" Hinata asked, eyeing to wet bandaged around his skull. "Do you want me to help you change into a new bandage?"

After a moment of silence, Hinata knew him well enough that she had his approval to do so. Now kneeling in front of him she slowly peeled off his damped bandage and replaced it with a fresh one, all the while he had his brows knit together, eyes closed.

"B-before I woke up in the hospital, I… had a d-dream.." she started to say. "It had me in it and you too, Sasuke-kun. But most strangely… our mot—

"It wasn't a dream," Sasuke cut her, eyes still shut. And slowly he opened them. The blood in his head slowly returning after his long cold shower.

"It was our memory."

Onyx eyes against opal ones, Hinata was paralyzed by his gaze while his words sunk into her. Subconsciously, her working hands went to her heart.

 _A memory? I think I… remember now.._

"I remember that day, when we would…" Sasuke continued saying.

 _Play in the forest clearing between our clan estate…_

"It wasn't always… but maybe around every two weeks.."

 _Our mothers would bring us to meet and play…_

"But we always wanted to play the same game which was.."

 _Hide and seek…_

The revelation hit her hard as Sasuke's words connected to her thoughts. Little did she realised that Sasuke was pulling her towards him as a tear began to trickle down her cheek.

"Do you remember that, Hinata?" he asked her softly.

It was as if a door in her mind finally unlocked; one that she never knew existed in the first place. But instead of the predispose fear or painful memories, it shook her core like no other findings before, she felt it shone through her core and it mentally made her feel a tonne of times lighter.

She knew it was out of character of her, but she too wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. And she cried… like she never cried before.

* * *

 _As you can probably tell and for those of you who mentioned it in the reviews, yes I am having a writer's block!_

 _I need a beta!_


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